In Humanity We Trust
by TheFuzzyKiwiFruit
Summary: The only way to defeat the Titans is unity throughout the entire human race, so the Survey Corps sets out to enlist the help of an elite ninja clan, a group of people who do not live within the Walls. The ninjas, however, are descendants of humans who were refused entry into the Walls over 100 years ago. How will a grudge held for over a century turn into unity amongst mankind?
1. The Plan

_A/N: Hello, hello, and welcome to my new story! Okay, so I feel kind of guilty for starting this story without having finished Simple Gifts or The Tangled Mist, but it's okay. As always, there's this really long author's note in the beginning to introduce the story :3_

_Before you read the story, here's the background info: A couple of my friends have been telling me about this lovely little anime called Attack on Titan and asked me to write a fan fiction about it. Now, when they told me about it, I hadn't watched Attack on Titan yet, so I wasn't really up for the challenge. But then I went and watched all 25 episodes in one day, and now I'm COMPLETELY hooked. I am aware that there is a manga, but I have not read it, so I do not know every little detail about the world of Attack on Titan. If you've read the manga, bear with me if I write something that seems AU compared to it. I will try my best to not make this AU, but, like I said before, I confess that my knowledge is a bit limited. As soon as I find a good quality manga reading website, I'll read the manga, okay?_

_Words about OCs before you meet them: There are two main OCs in this story, but there are a LOT of minor OCs that make up the race I created. If you're one of those people who are suspicious of OCs, I ask that you give this a chance. I try my absolute best to create healthy characters, and I would love to know your thoughts on them. At least read until the fourth chapter or so, okay? As of this chapter, the main OCs, Estelle and Luna, do not make an appearance. At earliest, they will probably be introduced in the second chapter, not including this one since it's the prologue._

_That's quite enough from me, don't you think? Now, enjoy the story, and leave a little review for me, please. Otherwise I'd just be talking to myself in these author's notes ^_^;_

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**In Humanity We Trust**

Prologue: The Plan

The sound of dozens of voices arguing and murmuring echoed loudly off the ceiling of the great mansion. Humanity's most renowned commanders, captains, elites, and scientists were gathered here to discuss a final strategy to defeat the Titans after so many failed attempts at eliminating the ultimate threat to their race. This Plan, produced by Erwin Smith, was said to be the last hope for the future of man. Too many had died in futile struggles to subdue the Titans, and supplies are quickly running short after such a long fight to recapture the land that was taken from them. If a new, fresh strategy wasn't acted upon soon, doom will crash down upon humanity.

The room where the conference was held was spacious and had an elegantly vaulted ceiling, thick marble columns supporting the roof, a magnificent crystal chandelier, and a floor made of colorful chunks of quartz that was so shiny that one could see their reflection in it. Expensive curtains fluttered sleepily from the cool breeze that blew into the room from a few tall open windows. The smells of various flowers drifted in from the garden outside, making the great hall seem like a pleasant and safe place.

But the men and women here cared not for the finery of the mansion, but for the Plan that they were soon to be introduced to. They sat at a long, wooden table at the center of the chamber, some fidgeting nervously with their gear and some with their hands calmly folded on the table with only a glimmer of interest on their faces.

Though the Plan had not even been explained yet, the occupants of the conference were already arguing and speculating about what sort of tactic the commander of the Survey Corps would come up with. Some had already lost hope and had high doubts that the idea would be any different than the many suicide missions before it. However, there were also a few very desperate attendees who were willing to try any sort of proposal, no matter how insane it may be. And in the middle were the small number of warriors who had not been driven mad by the past few months of bloodshed, famine, and sheer terror of the Titans. These were the ones that Erwin knew would help him carry out his Plan when the time came.

The room quieted as Erwin stepped through the grand entryway and into the view of his comrades sitting at the long table. He stood at the head of the table in silence for a moment as the last of the murmuring and whispering faded like the end of a spring rainstorm.

All eyes at the table stared at him as he looked back out at them. While his ice blue eyes scanned the room thoughtfully, he caught the sight of Hanji, a ridiculously eager smile on her face, and Levi, looking bored as always and as if he had much better things to do than attending this conference.

At last, Erwin spoke, his calm eyes looking straight ahead at the king who sat at the other end of the table in an elaborately decorated chair that made all the other occupants of the room look like they were sitting on rocks. "Thank you, my comrades, for gathering here today," the commander began, his clear voice echoing off of the high ceiling. "You are humanity's finest, and so you were chosen to be presented with this Plan. I know that many of you will not think that this strategy is wise, but I ask each and every one of you to hold your questions until the very end and to keep an open mind. The situation concerning the Titans has gotten to the point where I think it is time that we started considering more nontraditional ideas of dealing with them once and for all."

Erwin gazed at the faces of his colleagues again before going on, "If any of you here have trouble thinking outside of the box, I advise you to leave now. I do not wish for there to be riots before I am even finished speaking."

Silence hung in the air as Erwin waited, and nobody moved. If anything, most of the attendees who were uninterested before were now very curious as to what the Plan would be after listening to the commander's foreshadowing introduction.

Nodding, Erwin went on, not caring that no one had made a move to leave the chamber. "It is my belief that the key to defeating the Titans is for humanity to truly be united as one force. Though we have fought together bravely and saved the lives of our comrades, it is not enough. We still fight amongst each other, and there is still distrust in the human race."

"Wait a minute," the king demanded, looking slightly offended. "Are you saying that the government – my authority – is _corrupt_?"

"Not at all, your majesty," Erwin replied, never losing his cool. "Actually, what I speak of has only a small amount to do with the government of the Capital."

When the king only stared at him in confusion, the Survey Corps commander elaborated patiently, "I speak of a population of human beings who do not live within the Walls and whose loyalties do not lie with us." Erwin braced himself for the shouting and arguments before saying, "The Aquila Ninja Clan."

The room was still as the words sank in, and Hanji quickly broke the calm, "Oh, I simply _adored _that story when I was a kid!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together excitedly.

As anticipated, the room immediately erupted with laughter and criticizing remarks and argument. Erwin looked up at the ceiling as he waited for it to get quiet again.

One old Garrison captain from the eastern side of Wall Rose was laughing so hard that tears were beginning to form at the corners of his small eyes. "The Aquila Ninja Clan, Erwin?" he said after calming himself down. "That is a legend we tell our kids to keep them out of trouble. Have we fallen so hard that we are considering believing the objects of our children's fairytales?"

"It is not a fairy tale!" a middle-aged captain of the Survey Corps argued. "I have seen one of them, once when I was young. She was hiding in the shadows, and she was wearing all black, and she could climb trees really well, and – and – "

The Garrison captain smacked him behind the head irritably, "Oh, please," he addressed the younger man harshly. "You probably just saw a monkey or something, 'cause that's what it sounds like from what you've been describing her."

Erwin remained composed and dignified as the two captains continued to quarrel. "I have reason to believe that they are more than simply a fairytale to tell children, Robert," the commander said to the Garrison captain. Then, he motioned to a servant standing near the exit of the meeting room, who nodded and left the room.

"Are you going to give us proof of your wild speculation, or are you just going to stand there and let these idiots walk all over you?" Levi questioned Erwin in monotone, his eyes narrowed with calculation. He had not laughed when Erwin announced his judgment, not simply for the reason that he rarely laughed in general, but because he had somewhat of respect for the commander. Also, Levi was a clever man, and so he did not make judgments before knowing all the facts, lest he wanted to look like a fool like everyone sitting around him.

Erwin caught on to Levi's intentions and was grateful that at least someone in the room had the maturity to wait until he was done before laughing at him. Even though he knew that people were going to see his proposal as a joke, he knew what he was doing, and he had his evidence.

The servant, a little lady with light brown hair, returned at that moment with two books: one, thick and covered with dust, the other, newer and notably thinner than the first. The sniggering and accusations had stopped at this point, but most of the people gathered at the conference had a bit of trouble taking Erwin seriously as he took the two books and opened the thicker of the two while setting the other down of the table in front of him.

"In order to properly explain the Plan, I must point out something in our written history." Turning to a certain page near the beginning, Erwin looked up at the council, "Here in the pages of _The History of the Walls_, I noticed something strange a few weeks ago_._ On page twenty-three, paragraph three, line five, the volume reads, '_Though the Walls were meant for all of mankind to take shelter in, a small population remained on the outside. Some chose the freedom of the outside world over the safety of the Walls, while others were criminals who were forced to stay out as punishment for their sins, but a large portion of the population were people who were simply left behind or were too late. Once the gates were closed, they were not to be opened again until at least ten years later when the Survey Corps went on their first expedition. The 1__st__ expedition of the Survey Corps found that there was evidence that human life still existed outside Wall Maria, though there is still debate as to whether these are the marks of the humans left behind when the gate closed, or simply evolved, intelligent animals. The former, however, is the more dominate argument among modern scientists and with it comes the debate of how these unprotected humans survived for so long._'"

He finished reading the small section and snapped the book shut, sending a puff of dust particles into the air. He put the big manuscript down and looked at his comrades. Though he did not expect them to quite understand the meaning of the fragment yet, he had expected them to at least show some sort of reaction to what he just read, but they were all looking at him blankly.

Honestly a bit disappointed at the slowness of the council, though he didn't show his dissatisfaction, Erwin moved on to the smaller book that had a green cover. The title on the front, embedded in gold lettering, read _The Complete Collection of Traditional Fairytales for Children. _

"The story of the Aquila Ninjas is a classic story from childhood," Erwin said as he turned page after page until he found the correct story. "But as I compared _The History of the Walls _and _The Complete Collection of Traditional Fairytales for Children_, I couldn't help but notice a connection between the two in that paragraph I just read to you and this one: '_In a great forest far away, lived a group a black-cloaked people. They were rather small in stature – _'"

"Hey," Hanji, her glasses gleaming with delight, nudged Levi and whispered loudly to him. "That sounds like you, don't you think?"

"Shut up, shitty glasses," was his agitated reply, causing a few people to look in their direction curiously. However, they quickly snapped their eyes away and turned their attention back to Erwin when Levi glared at them dangerously.

" – _and had an almost inhuman ability in stealth. And for that, they were called ninjas, named after the old Japanese covert agents who were known to for their espionage and infiltration skills. These black-cloaked people were cursed people; they were punished to never enter the Walls and to forever be at the risk of being devoured by humanity's natural enemy. Some were too prideful to hide from the Titans. Others were evil-doers who did not deserve the mercy of the three great goddesses, Maria, Rose, and Sina. In order to survive, the black-cloaked people were united by two brothers, Cato and Columbus Aquila, to form the Aquila Ninja Clan and hide away into the Great Forest. To this day, they remain beyond the Walls, hiding from and spying on the Titans. Though they hate Titans as much as we do, they are no friend of ours. If one should venture into ninja territory, only death will await them."_

As Erwin finished, a young female officer from the Military Police shuddered and whispered to her friend, "I hated that story when I was little. It only brought nightmares. Who the hell would put a creepy legend like that in a children's book?"

In contrast, Hanji leapt from her seat and proclaimed with much enthusiasm, "That was one of my absolute _favorites_!" She then pointed a finger at the MP officer who had just spoken, "I found it simply fascinating when my mother first told it to me. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to meet one of them?" a dreamy look entered her eyes. "How can something like that give you nightmares, I would like to know."

The MP officer's face flushed with color a little upon hearing the bespectacled woman's words. "I-it doesn't matter anyway!" she argued. "It's just a fairytale, a story parents tell their kids to teach them not to go beyond the Walls and not to be too prideful, lest they want to be punished like the ninjas. If you're so interested in this sort of rubbish, by all means, be my guest. I'm not going to stop you from going beyond Wall Maria and getting yourself killed while looking for something that doesn't exist."

Hanji was about to retort when Erwin cleared his throat at them. They both looked at the commander for a second before slowly sitting back in their chairs.

"As I was saying," Erwin continued his presentation. "Am I the only one here who thought it odd how striking the similarities between the people who were left out of the Walls…" – he held up _The Complete Collection of Fairytales for Children_ – "…were to the black-cloaked people in this manuscript?

"Both groups never made it into the Walls when they were built. There have been no confirmed sightings of either of these two supposedly different races of people, although some have claimed that they've seen a ninja but have offered no evidence to make their claim valid. The first Survey Corps found evidence of continued human life over a hundred years ago as explained by _The History of the Walls. _And not to mention…" Erwin flipped the pages of _The Complete Collection of Fairytales for Children _until he came to the story he had just read. "… 'The Aquila Ninjas' is the only story in this book of which the original teller's name is unknown."

And, indeed, while many other tales in the volume had an indication of who was believed to have first told the story, there was no name under this one.

Erwin, knowing that the background information has been given to his colleagues, decided to go straight on to the Plan. "From these signals, I believe that there is a small population of people living out in the forests beyond the western side of Wall Maria. Whether they may be skilled ninjas or homeless, starving cowards hiding in holes in the ground, my strategy is this: the Survey Corps will venture out to the forest and look for them."

There was a roar of disapproval from the council at once, but Erwin didn't stop, knowing that he had to get everything out before people stop listening altogether.

"To have survived on their own without the protection of the Walls for this long, they must have abilities and knowledge that would be greatly helpful to us. If we can find them and convince them to unite with us, we will have an advantage, and if it's true that they are adept in espionage, that will be a massive aid to our scouts."

"You appear to be basing much of your Plan on 'if's, Commander Smith," Dot Pixis, the commander of the Garrison regiment stated not unkindly.

"I know, Commander Pixis," Erwin answered, "for I cannot promise that it will do well or that the Aquila Ninjas even exist. But even you must agree that if it does succeed, it would be worth the hardships."

"No, no, no!" the king shouted while shaking his head in exasperation. "This Plan of yours is too risky. Who would agree to carry it out? Who would go on a senseless mission of this magnitude? There is no one here who would be so foolish – so insane – "

For the second time that day, Hanji jumped up from her chair, flapping her hand frantically in the air. "I would go, your majesty! I would give anything to go on this mission!"

The king indifferently waved her offer away. "No, no, you don't count, Squad Leader Zoë. We all know you've been insane since day one. It's not a surprise." he deadpanned, covering his eyes with his hands tiredly.

Hanji stood there for a moment, her mouth hanging slightly open. "O-oh…"

Erwin gave her a pat on the back to show that he appreciated her effort anyways. Then he glanced at Levi who sat beside Hanji.

The shorter man hadn't made any insulting or inappropriate comments during the time Erwin was speaking, and the commander deemed it to be a good sign. It meant that Levi was actually taking the time to very carefully think about what he had said.

Erwin had not told Levi about the Plan before explaining it to the entire military council, so he had no idea what the corporal's reaction would be. Erwin hoped that Levi would trust him and agree to carry out the Plan, but he could not be certain of whether he consider it folly or genius. In both cases, he would find something rude to say.

Erwin secretly took pride in being practically the only person who can hold a casual conversation with Levi. The man was hard to approach, and almost every sentence that came out of his venomous mouth was meant to mock, insult, or strike fear into the hearts of just about everyone within hearing distance. But nonetheless, Levi was a good and skilled soldier, and Erwin would need his talents in case the ninjas refused to negotiate. And if Humanity's Strongest agreed to the strategy, it may give others the motivation to take part in the Plan too.

"No, I repeat, _no_," the king was shaking his head violently, snapping Erwin out of his thoughts. "I will not stand for it! Commander Smith, I am sorry, but your Plan is unacceptable. I will not allow my men to walk out into Titan territory driven only by a crack-pot theory of yours. Those of you who wish to go, you may go, but you will not force unwilling men to join you; I won't allow it!"

Erwin restrained himself from telling the king that he _knew_ the ninjas were out there. Long ago, he met a black-cloaked man in the forest outside of Wall Maria, with whom he became acquainted with. He never saw that man inside the Walls, only three times while he was on expeditions. Though Erwin could not be sure that the man was a ninja, he speculated, and the evidence seemed clear. It's been seven years since then, but Erwin knew that if he found the man, he'd be able to find the ninjas.

Clenching his jaw against spilling out that story to his colleagues, the Survey Corps commander was aware that if he claimed he saw the ninja now, it would make the story look like a desperate attempt to get people to reconsider his Plan. He wasn't going to do that. The king might deem him to be seriously mentally unhealthy and have him stripped of his position as commander. That was something he could not risk. Even if the Plan is bitterly disapproved and discarded by the council, he could not put it into action in secret from the cell of a nuthouse.

The king was still ranting about his dissatisfaction with the Plan, and Erwin knew that if the king didn't pass it, the rest of the meeting would not approve either. The king's vote was worth at least ten votes more than that of everyone else.

"And even if the ninjas _do _exist," said a Garrison captain, worriedly, "how can we even be sure that they'll help us? If they're really people who were left behind when our ancestors retreated through the Walls, there's no telling if they'll hold a grudge against us for leaving them to die."

The king nodded in agreement. "The council does not approve upon your tactic, Commander Smith," he announced as expected. "It has been dismissed, and so are you."

Erwin gave a small sigh. He hoped that it would not have come to this. He had hoped that he would not have to use Plan B, but since he did not have the support of the king, he had no other choice. He would have to execute the Plan in secret, behind the backs of the Military Police and royal family.

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_A/N: Did I mention that I love Hanji? I have so much fun writing her! Eren and Levi might be a little harder... but I'll get used to their personalities soon, I'm sure. It's a bit hard to make everything that comes out of Levi's mouth seem mean. I don't have the talent that some authors do at keeping canon characters perfectly in character. That's something I need to work on. If you've got tips or opinions for me, leave a review, and tell me if you want more, alright? _

_Next time: *Gasp* Is Erwin seriously going to sneak out? And who would go with him to carry out his Plan (Hanji, obviously)? Will Eren, Mikasa, and Armin come too (duh...)? Learn more about the Aquila Ninja Clan, and the answers to these very cheesy questions next chapter!_


	2. By the Cover of Night

_A/N: Well, this is a surprise! I usually don't start getting reviews until I've posted three chapters or so. Thanks so much to ECYA for being the first to review this story. And of course, if you favorite-ed or followed the story, many thanks to you too! _

_Oh, I should probably establish Levi's age in this story, which I should have done in the previous chapter. I know that his actual age is not confirmed, but he's supposed to be in his thirties. In order to make the timeline work and eliminate MASSIVE age differences, Levi shall be around 24 in this story, which I think is an age that matches his appearance. Concerning Eren's age, I think he's supposed to be fifteen from what I pieced together while reading the wiki, but I think he looks older than that, so in this story he's… say, seventeen. Alright, that's enough of my boring informative notes. Here's the next chapter~_

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Chapter One: By the Cover of Night

_Blood splattered across the front of Levi's uniform as he severed the flesh of the back of a 7-meter class Titan's neck. The familiar feeling of his weapons cutting into the skin like butter gave him a sense of satisfaction that he had taken the life of yet another one of these foul creatures that roamed the earth. As the Titan stumbled forward, ready to collapse to the forest floor and evaporate, Levi leapt off of its head, using his 3D Maneuver Gear to grapple onto a nearby tree trunk and gracefully swing away from the ugly corpse. _

_ Once situated on a branch of one of the incredibly tall trees of the woodland, the short man glanced at the red stains on his Survey Corps cloak that was beginning to vaporizing, until they vanished altogether. Though Titan blood disappeared from the fabric quickly, Levi's hands and blades were covered with the sticky, burning stuff. Wrinkling his nose with disgust, he promptly took a soft white cloth from his pocket and started ridding his equipment of the sickly fluids. _

_ As he cleaned his blades, Levi kept a sharp eye out in case a Deviant type decides to sneak up on him from behind. He thought of how the formation that was so carefully planned by the commander was shattered within minutes when three Abnormal Titans had shown up at the same time, crushing the front lines. It was almost embarrassing how the remaining troops scattered in panic and withdrew into the temporary protection of the giant trees of the Great Forest. Now, everyone was waiting for a signal of some sort to guide them to their next uncertain task._

_In the distance, partly hidden by big clusters of hundred year old trees, Levi could see a group of about eight soldiers fighting a single 15-meter class. They appeared to be young, their statures possibly even smaller than his own._

_ Levi's expression was calm asides from his constant frown as he watched the soldiers dance around the Titan, none of them even going for its weak spot on the back of the neck, only hopelessly slashing at its legs, arms, and torso. _What the hell are those idiots doing? _A scowl formed on his face as the soldiers appeared to make no progress in defeating the Titan, _Do they even know about the spot on the back of the neck?

_Having cleaned his hands and blades, Levi started making his way toward the 15-meter class to show the useless brats how it's done. He flew through the air using his Gear, the wind whipping his black hair, and the piston-shot grapple hooks cracking bark as they dug themselves into the trees._

_ As he got closer to the battle, he noticed something odd about the soldiers' uniforms. The "Wings of Freedom" emblem was not on their backs. Instead, they just wore cloaks similar to the style of the Survey Corps, but in black with no decorations or symbols._

_ The short man was about half way to the 15-meter Titan, when the sound of a shot flare gun echoed through the timberland, drawing his attention to the sky where he saw a thin column of blue smoke snaking its way to the heavens. Levi recognized it as the signal for retreat and glanced back at the Titan he was planning on killing._

_ But it was no longer there. _

_ Eyebrows furrowing into a glare of suspicion, he made the rest of his way to where the 15-meter class was, only seconds ago, engaged in battle with the group of soldiers. What he found succeeded in mildly surprising him, though Levi kept his face clear of any strong emotion._

_ The evaporating body of the15-meter class was lying face down on the ground, obviously dead, with numerous gashes and slashes and other wounds littered all over it. The people who were fighting it had disappeared without a trace, and all was silent as if a battle had never occurred here. But what intrigued Levi the most was that there was no cut on the back of the neck, and no sign of any intention to attack the only known weak spot of a Titan. How could it be that the Titan was dead without the back of its neck being severed? _

_ Something told Levi that those "brats" he saw earlier were not part of the Survey Corps._

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A sharp knock came from the door of Levi's office, causing the Corporal to look up from his desk, his dark gray, intimidating eyes narrowed at the source of the noise.

It was late at night, possibly 11:00, and Levi was still sitting in his office, working on the massive stack of reports he had to write about Eren Yeager's progress at learning to control his Titan-shifting powers. If he had not been forced to attend that conference about Erwin's Plan earlier that day, he might have been finished already. And if the cursed memory from years ago would stop flashing before Levi's eyes, maybe he would be able to concentrate more on the words he was writing down now concerning Eren's agonizingly slow improvement and lack of self-restraint.

The memory, one that had almost buried itself too deep within Levi's mind for him to be bothered with it, had quickly reemerged like an object rising from the bottom of the sea to the clear surface after Erwin's presentation in front of the council that day. Levi had kept this memory to himself since the day he saw the 15-meter class dead without the nape of its neck cut out, but he couldn't help but question if it had something to do with Aquila Ninjas.

Levi, being a realistic man, did not usually let these sorts of wild speculations distract him from what was genuine. But even he had to admit to himself that Erwin's ideas had merit. Of course, he would never actually tell that to the commander's face.

A small bit of irritation bubbled at the back of Levi's throat when he heard the insistent knock, but he fought to keep his face clear of emotion. Who would stop by at his office this late at night?

The Corporal could tell from the confident sound of knuckles on wood that it was not one of the brats. When cadets came to his office, their method of knocking was timid and hesitant, almost like they hoped that he, Levi, wouldn't hear it. It couldn't be the janitor, since Levi already keeps his office so clean himself. That only left his superiors as a possibility for this untimely visit.

"Tch…" With a noise of reluctant defeat, Levi set his pen down and got up to answer the door. But before he could get out from behind his neat, organized desk, the door opened, and Erwin stepped through the threshold without waiting for the shorter man's permission to enter, shutting the door behind him.

Levi was about to open his mouth and ask the Commander unkindly as to why he was here, but Erwin's attire caught his attention.

The blonde man was wearing a long, ominous cloak of black with the hood up, casting a shadow over his eyes. Underneath was his Survey Corps uniform and 3D Maneuver Gear as if he was planning on going out to kill Titans that late at night.

"You'd better have a fucking good explanation for showing up here dressed like the damned grim reaper," Levi greeted unceremoniously with his arms crossed over his chest, making it clear he was busy before Erwin showed up. "And it's over 70 degrees outside; how are you not burning like hell from wearing that cloak?"

Erwin paid no attention to the Corporal's language; he had the feeling that he wasn't going to be welcomed, especially at this hour. He drew his hood back, having no need to hide his face now, and got straight to the point, as there wasn't time for him to sit down, have a cup of tea, and chat casually with his short inferior.

"I'm going to look for the Ninjas," the Commander said directly.

Levi looked at him with dull, unimpressed eyes. He could tell from the look in Erwin's eyes when the king rejected his Plan that he wasn't giving up on his strategy. The Corporal had suspicions that he was going to find another way to carry out the Plan, but he didn't think that the Commander would do it so soon. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"I've gathered some men, and we ride out tonight," Erwin explained briefly. "We'll find the Ninjas, make some deal with them, and bring them here so an official alliance can be made."

Levi quirked an eyebrow at the ridiculously short explanation. Then, he gave his opinion bluntly, "That is the single most incompetent plan I have ever heard."

"I'll bring Hanji with me, since she wants to go so badly," Erwin went on, ignoring the shorter man's disapproval. "And there are some who have agreed to go with me; mostly men who claim to have seen a Ninja. That makes only about thirty people who are going, but we're travel by night when Titan's aren't active."

"It doesn't matter that you're travelling by night. It would take at least 32 hours to reach the forest outside of Wall Maria on horseback. What the hell are you going to do when it's daytime? Hide under a rock?"

"We're a small group, so Titans shouldn't be attracted to us as much."

"That's reassuring."

The Commander then gave Levi a hard look, "No one else knows about this, and no one will tell them. Do I have your word, Levi?"

Levi watched Erwin with an expression that was slightly accusing, "I don't think you came here just to tell me to keep your little secret," the Corporal said at last. "You want me to come with you, don't you?"

Erwin, held up his hands in an innocent manner, "You said it, not me."

It was true that Erwin was partly telling this to Levi as an invitation for him to take part in the Plan, but he wasn't going to directly request anything from him. It would annoy the shorter man if he was bluntly asked for a favor, no matter who that favor may be for.

Levi's sharp eyes were unreadable as he glanced back at the stack of paperwork that still awaited him. "How are you so sure that you can find these damned Ninjas?" he asked in monotone. "I didn't think you were the superstitious type."

"I'm not," Erwin's eyes were hard with determination. At first, he was hesitant at telling Levi about the man he met in the forest many years ago, but he quickly decided that telling Levi was better than telling the king or the Military Police.

"I met a man in the woods once, during an expedition, and he had an accent that I couldn't place. He saved me from a Titan, and we became somewhat acquainted. But I haven't seen him since seven years ago, so I do not know if he still lives. He was adept with a blade, and he mentioned that he had family. Though he never actually said anything about being a Ninja, I am sure he was one. He asked me to not tell anyone about him; he wanted to live in the forest in peace."

The look of boredom on Levi's face showed that he was still not convinced, "Did this guy even tell you his name? For all you know, he could have been a criminal hiding outside the Walls and in the woods to escape the Military Police."

"Claudius," Erwin responded immediately, "that was his name. He never revealed a last name, so there's a chance it may be Aquila."

"That's all it is," Levi replied coldly, getting frustrated on the inside with the Commander's theoretic way of thinking, "a chance. We're not going to defeat the Titans by depending on a fucking chance that some random man you met in the forest is a Ninja."

"He was wearing all black, and he was even shorter than you, Levi," Erwin boldly pointed out.

The Corporal looked up at his superior carefully, deciding if the blonde man was making a joke about Levi's shortness, but Erwin's face was completely serious.

The sharp-eyed man was quiet as he thought about the description of this "Claudius" character and that of the soldiers he remembered seeing on one of his early expeditions with the Survey Corps. He recalled that the people he saw in the woods years ago were also short and clad in black, similar to Claudius. With such a small population of people who might be living outside the Walls, this couldn't be a coincidence.

Before Levi could say anything, Erwin sighed and appeared as if he was going to leave, "I've already spent too much time here. I won't force you to come, Levi, but I ask that you trust me. I know that the Aquila Ninja Clan exists, or that the story of the Clan was based on real people who are still hiding in the forest outside the Walls. Though they may not be exactly as the history books and legends describe them, I believe that they can help us."

At last, after a short staring contest in which Levi found no sign of hesitation or uncertainty on Erwin's face, the Corporal made a "tch" noise and reluctantly muttered, "Fine." He understood that the blonde was going to carry out his Plan, whether he, Levi, chose to approve or not. Since that was the case, there was no way of dissuading him, so Levi might as well make sure he and the brats he's taking with him don't screw things up.

There was a quiet hiss of "yes!" from the other side of the office when Levi agreed. Both men turned in the direction of the sound, and Erwin opened the door to find Hanji leaning against the entrance as if she had been eavesdropping. And behind her, looking as if they were guilty of snooping as well, was a small portion of the graduated members of the 104th Training Corps, changed out of their sleepwear and clad in the Survey Corps uniform with 3D Maneuver Gear strapped to their hips and chests. They all fell forward onto the ground when Erwin swung open the door.

"Can I help you?" Levi asked with mock politeness, his eyes looking more threatening than usual when inspecting them from this angle.

Erwin raised one of his thick eyebrows at the cadets, curious as to what they were doing out of bed with Hanji.

The scientist grunted as she tried to get up, grumbling at the younger soldiers to get off of her. After much muttered curses, stepping on others' toes and getting elbowed in the face, the graduates of the 104th Training Corps were standing and dusting themselves off, not that there was much to dust off; Levi's hardwood floor was spotless. If anything, it was _they_ who dirtied the _flooring_.

Once on her feet again, Hanji laughed a bit anxiously, scratching her cheek and looking up at the ceiling of Levi's office. "You see…" she began, explaining nervously, noticing the questioning looks Erwin was giving the cadets. "Commander Erwin said that he'll take any one who's willing to go, so I went down to the dungeons to ask Eren if he wanted to come along with us to look for the Aquila Ninjas. I thought he might be interested, and his ability will be really helpful considering we don't have that big of a troop. He thought about it and decided that if it would help defeat the Titans, he'll join us. Then, Mikasa snuck out of her room and came down to visit Eren and overheard us talking, so she wouldn't let Eren go unless she was allowed to go too. But then, they decided to tell Armin since they didn't want to leave him without an explanation. Armin didn't want them to leave, so he told Jean, Connie, and Sasha about the Plan to try and get them to convince Eren and Mikasa not to go. After that, Eren and Jean got in a fight, and Jean decided to come when Eren called him a coward. Connie, Sasha, and Armin couldn't dissuade them, so – "

Levi clamped a hand over her mouth, abruptly cutting off the rest of Hanji's explanation. "In short, all the brats are coming with us because of you. Is that right, shitty glasses?" he growled.

"Pretty much," Hanji said when Levi removed his hand. "While you and Commander Erwin were sitting in here having a conversation that was basically going around in circles, I did something useful; I gathered more recruits for the mission."

"Captain Levi, sir!" Eren slammed his fist against his chest, his fighting spirit showing in his vibrant green eyes; a determination to try and prove to Levi once more that he wasn't a brat. It had been so long since he'd been of any significant use; only day after day of harsh training, doing chores, and getting degraded at by the Corporal for missing a spot while dusting. "If I can be useful on this mission – "

"Did I say you could speak, brat?" Levi deadpanned, looking at Eren out of the corners of his eyes.

"N-no, sir," Eren gritted his teeth as he bit back his other responses to the Corporal's harsh words. Though the Titan-shifter had respect for him, it was virtually impossible to please Levi, and Eren had no idea how Erwin could be comfortable with having a normal discussion with him.

Mikasa knew better than to say anything to Levi in Eren's defense, but she placed a firm hand on her adoptive brother's shoulder, letting him know that she disliked the Corporal's attitude just as much as he did.

"Thank you, Hanji. You have done well," Erwin told the scientist sincerely.

The several new members of the company weren't much, but he respected them for coming along anyway, even though half of them just didn't want to be left behind by their friends.

Hanji smiled maniacally and clapped her hands together, "So, when are we leaving, Commander Erwin?"

"Right now. I've prepared horses for us. We travel by the cover of night. Levi, meet us at the stables. We head for Klorva District once we are ready," Erwin said, drawing his hood back over his head and striding toward the door where the younger soldiers immediately made a path for him to walk through. Hanji excitedly follow after him, her ponytail swinging from side to side as she walked with a bounce in her step.

The graduates of the 104th Training Corps quickly made moves to follow Hanji's example, none of them wanting to be left alone with the Corporal.

Levi looked back at his paperwork, still stacked neatly at one corner of the desk, waiting for him to review, sign, and organize. The thought of picking up the pen again and finishing the reports honestly made Levi want to stab something, so he turned away from his desk, switched the lamps off, and went to his room to find his uniform and Gear.

* * *

_A/N: There's my sad attempt at writing Levi's POV. I can't say I'm completely satisfied with this chapter, maybe because I can't think of witty insults that are worthy of Levi. Anyways… I'm sure the next chapter will be slightly better, since I'm going to do an Eren chapter. Dear Sina, I'm actually kind of scared, but it's alright… It's okay… Now that you have read this somewhat of a strained chapter, I hope you'll leave a review for me. Please? I would like to know what you thought of the way I portrayed Levi. Is he OOC here, or…? If he IS OOC, please give me an example of what I did wrong and how I can fix it, okay? Okay. _

_Next time: Read as I make a valiant attempt to write Eren! Also, there is lots of information concerning the Aquila Ninjas in the next chapter, since Eren knows nothing about them. I promise, the action is coming very, very soon :)_


	3. True Stories

Chapter Two: True Stories

When Eren climbed onto the horse that was prepared for him, the moon overhead was a hauntingly elegant waning crescent. It appeared so far away, remote, and untouchable. Even then, there was something comforting about its pale glow that washed over the courtyard of the old manor that temporarily served as the Survey Corps' HQ. It was like a lantern that lit the path for the secret mission he and his fellow scout members were about to embark on.

A small number of about forty soldiers have agreed to Erwin's Plan now, including the graduates of the 104th Training Corps that Hanji had unintentionally managed to recruit. It did not take Levi long to come from within the manor, dressed in his Gear and green Survey Corps cloak. The men whispered and mounted their horses quietly, careful as to not wake up anyone who might report what they were doing to the Military Police.

Eren noticed that many of his companions were securing extra packages onto their saddles. In the light of the evening stars, the Titan-shifter's emerald eyes caught the shimmer of expensive silk fabric trailing out of the packages.

Seeing Eren's questioning look, one of the men stuffed the rest of the silk into a sack on his saddle. He said with a proud smile, "We're going to give these to the Ninjas when we find them. You see, boy, in the old days, bringing gifts could serve as a peace offering. That way, the Ninjas won't kill us on sight."

"But isn't that stuff really valuable?" Eren asked, gesturing at the silks. "Where did you get it all, anyways?"

The man laughed heartily, "We didn't steal it, if that's what you mean. We found these stashed in a storage closet in the basement. The Commander thought it would do more good as a peace offering to the Ninjas than being fought over by greedy merchants in town. And I have to say, I agree with him."

Eren nodded his understanding, and the man mounted his horse before riding toward the front of the party. The Titan-shifter gently kicked the side of his horse to signal for it to start walking.

No one dared to ride faster than a light trot, as the sound of forty galloping horses would surely wake up the townspeople. Erwin, Hanji, and Levi rode at the head of the company, making sure that no one went over their speed limit, and Eren lingered near the back with Mikasa and Armin.

Upon taking one look at Armin, Eren could tell that he was unconfident of whether his choice of joining this mission was foolish or wise. The little blonde boy hung his head as he rode on Eren's left side. There was an empty look in his clear blue eyes, as if he was not sure what he had gotten himself into when he told his two best friends that he was coming with them.

Mikasa, however, had her focused, dark eyes fixed ahead, unwavering and ready for anything. But no matter how emotionless she made her face appear, Eren knew that she did not approve of him agreeing to help in Erwin's Plan. It was almost a repeat of over five years ago when Eren announced that he was going to enlist as a cadet and join the Survey Corps when he was finished with training; Mikasa had been against it but if she couldn't dissuade him, she enlisted with him. And Armin had been dragged along, filled with uncertainty, but not wanting to be left behind while his friends joined the military.

It was unfair to the poor blue-eyed boy. Every time Eren got himself involved in something, Mikasa would get involved too, and Armin would be left with no choice but to follow as well.

Though a part of Eren's heart was comforted that he would share this adventure with his two closest friends by his side, he still couldn't help but wished that Mikasa hadn't shown up at the basement exactly as Hanji was explaining the Plan to him. That way, Armin would never have known about this, and both he and Mikasa would still be sleeping at HQ, safe, and without the worries that they had now.

Eren had to admit that it was partly his fault that Armin found out about the Plan. It had been Eren who had insisted that he and Mikasa told Armin where they were going so that the blonde wouldn't panic when he woke up the next morning to find them both gone, along with the Commander and Hanji. Eren had not expected him to be so against their going that he'd even wake up Jean to help him stop them.

And now, most of their friends have been dragged into Erwin's secret mission. Hanji seemed to be quite pleased about that, but Eren was more worried about the safety of his fellow graduates from the 104th Training Corps.

Hanji had explained the Plan with great detail and had often emphasized the positive points of it; "just imagine all of the knowledge we can gain from this expedition" and "you must admit that it would be absolutely _amazing_ to see the Ninjas when you've only ever heard fairytales about them" or "you can't miss this chance to bring real hope to humanity".

Frankly, it didn't surprise Eren, nor anyone else, that Hanji was the most eager to follow Erwin. Gazing up over the heads of the people in front of him, Eren could see the hyper woman practically bouncing in her saddle with excitement. It was clear that she was holding back her giggles and laughs of sheer delight and exhilaration for the sake of keeping the secret Plan a secret. If one of the townspeople heard hysterical laughter outside their windows at this time of night, they'd probably call the Military Police.

And so, Erwin and his company of forty travelled in silence to and through the small district of Klorva on the western side of Wall Rose. As expected, the lacking number of Garrison soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the Gate were asleep, snoring loudly, making it very easy to sneak past them.

Once the Survey Corps members left Klorva behind, a great weight seemed to be lifted off of their shoulders. Now, they were in land where the Military Police wouldn't dare to go to arrest them; they were in the land between Walls Maria and Rose – Titan-infested land.

There were no Titans, though, since the majority of the human-eating giants could not operate without sunlight. The land was flat and empty, only the horizon with dark blue, star-filled skies above it and somewhat of a barren landscape below it. The past summer had been a hot one, and the grass was mostly yellowing and crunched under the hooves of the Survey Corps' horses.

Since they were out of the reach of the ears of the Walls, the company relaxed a little and was released of their orders to remain as silent as possible. The horses were now allowed to gallop, which was a great relief, since Erwin's goal was to reach Wall Maria by morning, and the night was nearly half over.

No one spoke, not only for the reason of not being able to hear others with the wind whipping past their ears, but also because talking while riding was a great way to bite your tongue, as a deceased member of Levi's Squad used to do all the time.

Eren did not like thinking about the Female Titan and how she had destroyed Levi's Squad in less than a minute, and bested Eren himself, even after dealing with Eld, Oluo, and Petra. It had been several months since then, and Survey Corps members had learned not to bring it up, especially not in front of the Corporal.

Though Mikasa and others had told Eren over and over again that the deaths of the Special Operations Squad were not his fault, Eren would sometimes find himself pondering what would have happened if he had stayed to fight with Eld, Oluo, and Petra. Would he have been killed like his friends? Or would Annie have been defeated then and there with the combined strength of Eren's Titan form and Levi's Squad? Could Petra's life have been saved? Or Eld and Oluo's?

Now that he knew who the Female Titan was, Eren felt like an idiot for not recognizing her upon first sight. The resemblances between the two were so striking that he had no idea how he didn't notice it before. Not to mention, he should have immediately found her fighting style familiar.

Maybe the thought of Annie being the Female Titan had crossed his mind at some point, but he didn't want to believe it, and so he had pushed it to the back of his mind and ignored it. At present, he knew what a mistake that was. He should have told Erwin or Levi or even Hanji the moment he had the thought. If he had, it might have saved the expedition, and the lives lost would have meant something.

But Eren didn't. He had kept his mouth shut; he left the Special Operations Squad on its own to fight Annie. He had so many chances to save the expedition, yet he didn't take any of them.

Now, he had been given an opportunity to make up for his faults during the 57th expedition beyond the Walls. He was going to make sure that this mission succeeds. He was willing to do anything to ensure that the time and effort that was going to be spent for the next few days, hunting down the Ninjas, are not in vain.

With that thought in mind, Eren kept his eyes on the horizon ahead of him and did not once look back at the black silhouette of Wall Rose against the starlit eastern skies.

* * *

The sun rose from behind the members of the unofficial 58th expedition beyond the Walls, casting their long shadows before them. Wall Rose had long disappeared behind them and in the glowing red light of dawn, Eren saw in the distance, Wall Maria.

Though the town he grew up in was far to the south, Eren still got the feeling of being home upon seeing even a portion of the outermost Wall.

As the troop approached the Wall, they passed by a small town that was abandoned long ago when the Colossal Titan first appeared. Now, the only occupants of the once thriving village were scavenging animals, hiding in the shadows of the remains of the houses that once stood there. The road that ran through the settlement could not be identified, for grass and weeds had grown over the path, and thick layers of vines constricted the ruins of buildings.

Because the village had so long been uninhabited, there were no supplies stored there that might be able to help the Survey Corps. Also, there were no human bodies that hadn't already been picked clean by vultures, which Eren was thankful for. Seeing the dead bodies of fellow soldiers who fought bravely was one thing, but seeing the corpses of innocent civilians was a complete other.

The company came to an abrupt stop as Erwin halted his horse. They now stood directly beneath the towering Wall Maria. The Commander turned to address his companions in his steady and clear voice, "Leave the horses down here and give them water. Then, scale the Wall, and we will rest on top of it for the day, until the sun sets again. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" came the shouted reply from the soldiers. They dismounted, their backs sore from the long ride, and quickly left their horses with some water before using 3D Maneuver Gear to climb the monstrous barrier that was Wall Maria, eager to get out of the reach of Titans should they appear suddenly.

The Wall was just as Eren remembered. It wasn't as thick as most people thought it to be, and two lanes of tracks ran near its edge for carts to transport weapons on. Everything was rusty from disuse and worn by weather. The canons were empty and messily arranged on the Wall, while the tracks were covered with a layer of orange tarnish.

Eren had stood upon Wall Rose many times, where he could look out and see the land that was protected by Wall Maria, but he had never stood on Wall Maria itself. His stomach suddenly filled with butterflies of sudden anticipation, Eren walked to the edge of the Wall that faced the west, and, for the first time in his life, saw a wide view of what was beyond the outermost Wall.

The sky was spotted with tiny wisps of fluffy white clouds, and the massive shadow of Wall Maria was cast across the flat landscape. In the distance, Eren could catch a glimpse of a mass of dark green treetops that made up the edge of the Great Forest. It was somewhat foggy beyond the forest, so he could not see much more.

Frankly, Eren was slightly disappointed at the view. He had expected to see what Armin had shown him when they were young in the book about the outside world; giant rocks that would take days to climb, massive sheets of frozen water, forests where it was constantly raining, canyons of orange and red rock, and what were called "seas" where salt water never ran out.

He did not see any of these things, but Armin told him that they existed, and he trusted his blonde friend. The view from the top of Wall Maria had put into perspective for Eren of how big the outside world was. Even from the top of a 50-meter structure, he could only see but a small portion of it. But this only made him want to explore beyond the Walls further.

Armin and Mikasa had joined him and were gazing out at the forest far away, concealed by a thin sheet of fog.

"Hey, Armin," Eren said. "Do you think the sea's waiting for us on the other side of that forest?"

"I don't know," Armin wished he had brought his book known as an "atlas" with him, but he knew that if someone saw him reading about the outside world, both he and Eren would be in trouble. "According to the atlas, the planet's surface area is around 510 million square kilometers. It would take a long time to travel the world. We could be really far away from the sea, actually.

Suddenly, a thought struck Eren that made is eyes widen slightly. "If the Ninjas live in the outside world, they must have explored it. Maybe they've seen the sea."

"Eren," Mikasa said gently, "the Ninjas live without protection from the Titans. Wouldn't it be suicide to try and explore the world around them when a Titan can show up at any time? And besides, their way of survival is hiding, and I doubt they'd have time for pleasures such as satisfying their curiosity. When you live out there, with nothing to separate you from your natural predator or even 3D Maneuver Gear, life must be hard."

Someone chuckled softly behind the three cadets, and Eren, Armin, and Mikasa turned to a middle aged man sitting behind them, puffing a pipe, and looking as if he had been listening to their conversation.

"I wouldn't underestimate the Ninjas if I were you, missy," he said to Mikasa. "They can get along just fine without the Gear. At least the one I saw could."

While Eren and Armin's eyes lit up with mild interest, Mikasa only raised an eyebrow at the man calmly, waiting for him to elaborate. "Are you saying you've seen a Ninja?"

The man, satisfied with the cadets' reactions, smiled boldly. "Gather around, kiddos, and I'll tell you all about it." He motioned for Eren and his friends to sit in a circle around him.

Eren shrugged and sat down without a second thought, and so did Armin. But Mikasa was more careful. Though she sat down beside her adoptive brother, she was not ready to believe everything this man told her. She could tell by his cheeky attitude that he was going to exaggerate everything that comes out of his mouth, just to impress the "kiddos".

"It was on my first expedition with the Corps that I saw her," the man began loudly and dramatically. "I just got done saving one of my friends from a 13-meter class when an Abnormal Type came at me from behind. I'll admit, I was caught off guard, and the Titan almost crushed me under its big ugly foot. Suddenly," he paused for suspense. "I saw her. She moved so quickly that she was almost invisible and if you blinked, you would've missed her. She was wearing a black cloak, kind of like ours, with the hood up, and a gray cloth masking the bottom of her face – "

"Wait," Eren interrupted. "If she was wearing a mask and a hooded cloak, how did you know she was a girl?"

The man shrugged indifferently, "I don't. But she was a small thing, so I assumed that she was female. Now, as I was saying – "

"All Ninjas are supposed to be rather small," Mikasa pointed out. "For all you know, it could very well have been a boy."

The man glared at Eren and Mikasa. "Who's telling the story here?" Then, he answered his own question. "That's right; me! Now, if you lot want to hear what happens next, I suggest you be quiet.

"So, I was saying, the Ninja came to me at my time of need. She didn't kill the Titan, just slashed at it a few times with her knives, but gave me a chance to regain my balance and take care of the beast myself. But as soon as finished off the Titan, my Ninja was gone. She just disappeared as quietly and quickly as she came. True story. I think she was a bit shy."

"Or she could have just not wanted to be seen," Armin put in hesitantly. "In old Japanese history, a Ninja's greatest goal is to not be seen and to only do battle when completely necessary. It was probably in her nature to disappear as soon as she was finished with her job."

Appearing not to have liked Armin's comment, the man blinked at him, "And you are?"

"Armin Arlert," Armin replied calmly. "I'm a graduate of the 104th Training Corps."

"Ah," the man placed his hand on his stubbled chin. "So you're part of that group of kids Squad Leader Hanji invited along."

"That's right."

"You'd better be careful, then," responded a new voice. It belonged to a tall, skinny man who looked in his forties. He had dark, unreadable eyes and a small mustache above his upper lip. "Young and inexperienced ones like you shouldn't get involved with the Ninjas. Only people who have seen them with their own eyes have an idea of how dangerous they are."

Eren wanted to argue that he was not inexperienced, but changed his mind after thinking about it. Yes, he had fought Titans before and gone on one expedition into the land between Walls Maria and Rose, but he had never gone completely out in the open – outside of Wall Maria – while some of the older members of the Recon Corps had probably been out there plenty of times.

"What are you talking about, Newton?" the first man said to the second one, causing Eren to pay attention to the conversation again. "Never in my life had a Ninja tried to harm me."

"You should consider yourself lucky, then, Quinn," replied the man named Newton. "If it weren't for my 3D Maneuver Gear, she would have caught me. You don't know _real_ speed until you've had a Ninja chasing you. "

Quinn sat back, looking a bit irritated, thinking that Newton was trying to best his story with one of his own. "Alright, then enlighten us, won't you?" he said with mock courtesy.

"Even with Gear, I barely outran her," Newton said, ignoring Quinn's disrespect, his eyes dark with the memory of something frightening. "It was on my third expedition. I don't know what I did to anger her, but she came out of nowhere, and at first all I saw were little silver objects raining down on me. A couple of them hit me, and I realized they were weapons – star-shaped throwing weapons. I ran and used my Gear to get as far away as I could but for the first several seconds, I could see a small black shape out of the corner of my eye, running and leaping through the tree branches, following me. I panicked because, at the time, I did not even stop to think of what it was that had attacked me. I just knew that it was dangerous.

"I kept fleeing and after a minute or so, she must have gotten tired and started falling behind. When I lost her and got back to my squad, I still didn't know what to make of her," he finished. "It was only yesterday, after Commander Erwin told me his Plan, that I realized what I encountered all those years ago."

Quinn scoffed, unimpressed, "Tell me, Newton, if you ran away from a Ninja back when you were on your third expedition, why you would want to go look for them again. Hmm?"

Newton observed the other man with focused and concentrated eyes. "I want to find the Ninja who attacked me and ask her why she did it. One of her stars actually left a scar right here." He rubbed his left shoulder. "It has never really healed."

Both men were quiet for a moment before Quinn let out a sigh and got to his feet, dusting himself off. "Well, you all can believe whatever you want to believe, but there's really nothing to worry about. The Ninjas may have been living in the forest for over a century, but they've still got humane feelings, and they won't attack us for no reason, I'm sure of it. We're all humans after all, aren't we?

"It was nice talking with you kids," he said to Eren, Armin, and Mikasa before sauntering off toward a group of older men.

Then he was gone and Newton, without another word, also went off to see to matters of his own, leaving Eren and his friends alone.

"I don't believe a word from either of them," Mikasa spoke in monotone. "We shouldn't draw any conclusions about the Ninjas before we actually meet them. The stories these men have told us can be exaggerated to the point of only being half true. I think it is idiotic to have expectation of the Ninjas; not only might we be let down with our high hopes, but we might also offend them if we're not careful."

"How is that offending?" Eren asked.

Mikasa's eyes were glued to the foggy forest far away as she spoke. "Remember, Eren, Commander Erwin thinks that the Ninjas are descendants of people who were denied entry into the Walls when they were first built. It will not make it easy to convince them to help people who left their ancestors out to die. If they find out that we were expecting something out of them before we even meet them, we'll look like desperate, ignorant fools who think that they can get anything they want as long as they ask. Would you feel comfortable giving someone a slice of bread when they made it clear that they were expecting an entire loaf?"

Neither Eren nor Armin answered, but they understood Mikasa's train of thought. For the first time since he agreed to help Erwin with the Plan, Eren thought about what would happen if the Ninjas refused to assist them. The Survey Corps would have no choice but to return home in shame for going against the decision of the king and the military council and failing at what they had set out to do.

Eren shuddered at the prospect of completely losing the support of the people and the government. But then, if they succeeded in forming an alliance with the Aquila Ninja Clan, the king and council will have no choice but to forgive them for their disobedience. And on top of that, the Survey Corps will have the support of the people again for finally making an expedition mean something.

_So much is at risk, but so much can be gained if Commander Erwin's Plan works. _Eren looked at the tall, blonde haired commander who stood further down the Wall, his calm cerulean eyes fixed at the distant forest with a fierce determination. Eren felt a sudden wave of respect for him, for having the courage to risk everything in order to bring genuine hope back to the people.

Now, all that mattered was whether or not he wins this bet.

* * *

_A/N: This chapter was supposed to be shorter, but I guess I got carried away with all of Eren's thoughts. I hope I did alright with keeping him in character, what do you think? Drop a review to fuel my imagination and typing fingers!_

_Next time: Like I said before, I'll have to leave the introduction of my OCs to next chapter, since this one turned out much longer than I had intended. How will the Ninjas react to the Survey Corps and vice versa? What adventures await in the dark, foggy Great Forest? Stay tuned! :)_


	4. The Great Forest

_A/N: Oh, my… I can't believe how long this turned out. It was supposed to be 1,000 words shorter, but I guess it's okay. You readers want long chapters, right? Anyways, this chapter isn't really from anyone in particular's point of view. The POV freely switches from one character to another so pay attention to that. Also, many thanks to all those who are following and favorite-ing. But some reviews would be nice, too. Alright, enjoy the chapter~_

* * *

Chapter Three: The Great Forest

The day spent atop Wall Maria passed by without incident. Because they were a small party, Titans were not extremely attracted to their location and by the time the sun set again, the members of the unofficial 58th expedition beyond the Walls were back on their horses and riding again.

By the end of the second night, the Survey Corps had reached the edge of the Great Forest. The sun was already rather high in the sky when they stopped, so Erwin knew that they were lucky that no Titans had been spotted though it was probably around 9:30 in the morning. The horses were tired from the long night, so the blonde Commander allowed a break at the edge of woodland, just where the thick trunks of the trees met the plain flatland.

The Great Forest did not get its name for nothing. The trees were some of the tallest the Scouting Legion had ever seen, the shortest being 60 meters high and the tallest being 110 meters, exceeding even the Forest of Giant Trees. The canopy made by the branches and leaves high overhead, which was bright orange and red in color due to it being early autumn, was so dense that hardly any sunlight could cut through, making the forest floor a dark and gloomy place. Not to mention, the fog witnessed from atop Wall Maria had not faded, and no one could see further than several feet in front of them. The entire timberland looked like a good place for hiding – perfect for a Ninja to lurk about without fear of being seen. It gave off a strange atmosphere of unsettling quietness, like the silence of a predatory animal before it strikes its prey.

All was still as Erwin took a few steps into the forest and tried to establish what was beyond the natural veil, while his companions rested, drinking from their water supply and eating the simple food rations they had brought with them. Erwin had been to the Great Forest many times during his earlier expeditions, and he knew that the place he met Claudius was not so far from where he and his troops were now. The Ninjas should be hiding just a little deeper in the woods.

"Commander!" Hanji's voice snapped Erwin out of his reverie, and he turned around to see the Titan-obsessed squad leader eagerly making her way toward him, her glasses gleaming with anticipation. "Will we be taking a break in the trees, or do you want us to keep riding?"

Erwin thought about this. A part of him wanted to believe that since they were in the forest – an ideal environment for 3D Maneuver Gear – it wouldn't be too risky to travel in the daytime. But he also knew that he had to be very careful about engaging Titans in battle, for his companions were small in numbers and could not afford to lose anyone.

He turned back to Hanji and said, "Get as high up in the trees as you can; we cannot risk an attack. We're lucky that we haven't seen any Titans yet."

Hanji, though she had been hoping to go deeper into the woods, nodded and was about to pass the order on to her comrades when she noticed something in the fog behind Erwin.

"Commander, look," she pointed past him at the object that had caught her attention.

It was the giant silhouette of a Titan, dark and blurry from behind the fog, and it was slowly lumbering toward them.

"15-meter class coming this way!" someone shouted, and the heads of all the members of the expedition shot up from what they were doing and frantically glanced around in all directions, trying to detect where the threat might come from. Just when they thought they might make it through the first half of the trip without Titan encounters, a Titan showed up as if to mock them.

"Up the trees, now!" Erwin shouted for them to stop looking for the Titan and to get to safety first.

At once, the soldiers dropped everything, grappled onto the trunks of the colossal trees around them, and began pulling themselves to the protection that the tall branches provided. Thankfully, the Titan was a slow one, so there was enough time for everyone to escape.

The Survey Corps members were silent, crouched on their branches as the Titan came out of the fog. It was bald and had ridiculously short legs with arms that were way too long for its bulbous abdomen. Like all of its kind, it also had a strangely simple but surprisingly creepy face; sagging skin around the cheeks, unblinking black eyes set deep in its skull, and a very big mouth that was always smiling in that effortlessly bone-chilling way. However, it was not a 15-meter class but merely a 5-meter class, a Titan that could almost be considered harmless compared to others of greater size.

"The fog must have tricked our eyes," Erwin said to Hanji and Levi who perched on the same tree branch as him. "This forest really is a place for Ninjas."

"What are your orders, Commander Erwin?" called a soldier in a nearby tree.

The 5-meter class was now standing in the place where the Survey Corps had just been, paying no attention to the horses or supplies and only staring up at the humans high above it. The Titan was far too short to reach them, but it continued to loiter around as if it knew that its prey would have to come down at some point.

"It's just a shitty 5-meter class," Levi said, staring down at the beast with emotionless eyes. "I'll take care of it." He reached for his swords, but Erwin quickly halted him.

Hanji suddenly gasped with delight, "Commander, Shorty, look at _that_," She was practically bouncing in place as she pointed down to where the Titan was.

A group of about a dozen four-legged animals had silently appeared below, ignoring the horses and surrounding the 5-meter class in what seemed like an attacking formation, which was odd since, as far as the Recon Corps knew, Titans didn't bother animals, so animals didn't pay attention to Titans either. But these animals were obviously hostile toward the humanoid giant, slowly circling it with their ears pressed flat against their heads and their needle-like teeth displayed in a savage snarl.

"They're so cute!" Hanji squealed, clasping her hands together under her chin. "What do you think they are?"

No one answered her, for no one knew except for one little blonde cadet with sky blue irises.

Armin remembered seeing a drawing of these animals in one of his books about the outside world. He recognized the animals as some breed of dogs or wolves, creatures who used to be a great companion of mankind before the Titans appeared. He read that they were loyal and had a good sense of smell. People used to train them for hunting, guarding, and many other jobs that were quite effective. And since animals usually leave Titans alone, could these dogs have been trained to attack Titans?

The 5-meter class Titan was so focused on trying to get to the humans that it did not notice the animals quietly cornering it until one of them suddenly lunged at it, biting and tearing at the giant's ankles.

The other dogs followed the example of the first and all began viciously jumping on the Titan, sinking their teeth into its flesh and violently tearing away skin. As more started assaulting it, the Titan was brought to the ground, thrashing and kicking away a few of its attackers. But more dogs came from the forest, and the 5-meter class was soon overwhelmed by the number of enemies.

With so many sets of teeth and claws tearing at it at once, the Titan could not regenerate. The Survey Corps watched in wonder as the Titan became still, and its entire body began to steam, signaling that it was dead. But how could a Titan be killed without the nape of its neck being sliced off?

Hanji watched the dogs with bright, glittering eyes like they were her birthday presents. "They're adorable, _and_ they're helpful in killing Titans. This must be our lucky day!" she cackled with glee.

As soon as the bespectacled squad leader said those words, one of the dogs, a reddish-brown one, snapped its head upward at the Survey Corps and snarled with just as much fierceness as it had with the Titan. The others of its kind also left the evaporating Titan body and were now growling at the humans as if they were their next target.

Hanji abruptly stopped laughing, her curious brown eyes widening slightly in surprise.

"Fucking hell," Levi muttered in his usual monotone when the dogs continued to wait at the foot of the tree, showing no signs of leaving any time soon, "now the damned mutts are after us too."

"Oh, have some faith, Levi," Hanji said replied. "I'm sure they just want to say hello. I'll be right back." She then jumped off of her branch and began to descend toward the dogs before anyone could stop her.

"Squad Leader Hanji, be careful!" warned a few of her comrades, but the scientist paid no attention to them, casually waving their concerns aside.

Hanji descended to where she was hanging about five feet off the ground and greeted the dogs with a loud and enthusiastic voice. "Don't worry, little guy," she said to a gray-furred one that stood the closest to her, "I'm not going to hurt you. Why don't we be friends and go explore the world together? Oh, and don't mind Captain Shorty up there; he's just a bit shy – "

The dog sprang at her dangling feet, jumping unexpectedly high, and snapping its teeth viciously.

Hanji quickly jerked her cable, pulling herself out of reach. "Feisty, aren't you?" she continued, not giving up. "I think I'll name you Sonny, after a friend that I shall remember forever. Do you like that name?"

The dog must have been smart, since it then leapt from the ground to the side of a tree trunk, giving itself a higher starting point, and from the tree trunk to the scientist's legs.

Hanji let out a yelp as she was jerked upward just in time and far away from the hostile animals by Erwin. "You tried," the Commander said, making sure that his colleague did not try to do anything dangerous again.

"So, what are we going to do?" demanded a short boy with a shaved head, Connie Springer. "If one of us tries to go down there again, those things are definitely going to do to us what they did to that Titan."

"That's easy," laughed Jean, a tall, long-faced cadet with ash blonde hair. "We can just use our Gear and never set foot on the ground. They can't get to us if we stay in the air, right?"

"They'll just follow us, you shitty brat," Levi deadpanned without looking in Jean's direction.

"And what about our horses?" asked a young girl with brown hair very similar to Hanji's, Sasha. "And more importantly, what about the _food_?! We can't just abandon it like that; I'll never be able to live with myself!"

At this, an argument soon erupted amongst the soldiers, each suggesting their ideas and agreeing with Sasha about the horse and food issue. "Here's a great idea," someone said. "Why don't we just slaughter the mutts? We've all killed a Titan before, so it shouldn't be any problem."

"No!" Hanji cried with genuine alarm. "They can kill Titans, and you want to kill _them_!? How can you stand harming such a fine and useful species?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, is that what you're trying to say?" questioned a soldier.

"Squad Leader Hanji, those _things_ are dangerous!" argued another. "We should deal with them quickly while they're still tired from taking down that 5-meter class. Otherwise, we may be stuck in these trees for who knows how long."

"I agree," Erwin said seriously. "If we are to complete the mission we set out for, we have to get out of these trees and back to our horses and supplies."

Hanji shrank back sadly in defeat, knowing that the Commander was right.

Erwin turned to his comrades, "Draw your blades – "

"I think they're leaving!" Armin, who had been observing the dogs the entire time, suddenly cried out loudly, drawing the attention of all of his comrades.

Erwin stopped giving orders, his thick, bushy eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion. He and everyone else followed Armin's gaze down to the forest floor.

Indeed, the dogs had disappeared as quietly as they had come, and there was no sign that they were ever there in the first place, besides the almost completely evaporated Titan corpse.

"Where'd they go?" someone asked what was on everyone's mind.

"Does it matter?" asked Sasha, looking like she was going to cry from relief that she wasn't going to be stuck in a tree without food forever. "They're gone now, so let's hurry and get down from here before they come back."

"Sasha, wait!" Mikasa hissed, quickly going after the food-loving girl.

As soon as the oriental girl's feet touched the ground, she felt the cold edge of a blade on her throat and saw that Sasha was in the same situation, eyes wide with fear. She tried to yell for the rest of her companions to not come down, but the weapon pressed on her neck harder as she tried to open her mouth. Doing the smart thing, Mikasa did not move or struggle for she knew that she was at the mercy of the owner of the blade.

All of the members of the expedition, not knowing the danger that awaited them below, quickly slid down from their trees and found themselves encircled by people clad in black cloaks and gray cloth masks and drawn weapons.

A dangerous and thick silence followed as the Survey Corps members froze in their tracks, their eyes scanning their environments, minds whirling with calculation of the predicament they were in.

Because they wore masks, the same cloaks, and were all quite similar in height, it seemed almost as if they were surrounded by multiple clones of the same person. Frankly, it was truly a bit frightening. Only close up could one tell the differences between each of the masked people.

The dogs from earlier had returned and were crouching obediently at the feet of the black-cloaked individuals.

Erwin wasn't sure how he should react to this. He knew at once that this was the Aquila Ninja Clan, but he hadn't expected their first meeting to be like this. Nonetheless, he had located his target a day ahead of schedule, so Erwin should have been pleased and even happy, but he was aware that he could not show it at the moment. With Mikasa and Sasha held at knife's tip, any sudden movements from the Scouting Legion may lead to the harming of the two cadets should the Ninjas find it suspicious, so the Commander slowly did the safest thing he could; he kept his face calm and raised his hands over his head in surrender.

Hanji, though she was more fascinated than afraid, quickly copied Erwin. The rest of the company followed their example with the exception of Levi who only cross his arms and stared emotionlessly at the nearest Ninja.

But the Ninja who had Mikasa appeared to be satisfied with the show of yielding and quickly removed the knife from the black-haired girl's throat before shoving her back to the Survey Corps.

Sasha was also released and roughly pushed toward her comrades.

The Ninja who had released Mikasa was muttering to another in a language that neither Erwin nor any of his troops could understand, but from their voices, both Ninjas were clearly male. The first had gray eyes while the second had brown ones. They seemed to be discussing what to do with their captives.

"Hey," Hanji said, trying to make the atmosphere less tense and causing them to look of from their conversation. "Why don't you all put your weapons away, and we can talk this out, what do you think?"

"I don't think they can understand us, Hanji," Erwin informed her quietly. He had carelessly overlooked the possibility that the Ninjas may have a language of their own.

"I guess we'll have to use sign language then," the scientist persevered.

Levi snorted, "This ought to be good."

Hanji ignored him and stepped forward slowly as to not appear threatening. "Us…" she motioned to herself and her companions. "…Survey Corps…" She turned around and showed the Ninjas the "Wings of Freedom" emblem on the back of her cloak.

The Ninjas glanced at each other in confusion.

"You…" the squad leader tried again, pointing at the Ninja with gray eyes and his friend. "…Ninjas…"

Both the Ninjas and the rest of the Recon Corps were staring at her.

"You…" Hanji said very slowly, exaggerating every sound. "…Me…" she gestured to herself, and clasped her hands together over her heart with a big smile on her face. "…Friends!"

"Fuck me," Levi muttered, the tiniest twitch of his slim eyebrows showing his agitation with Hanji's ridiculous antics.

Noting the change of expression on the Ninjas' faces, a raised eyebrow, a widening of the eyes, or a movement beneath their masks that indicated the twitch of a lip, Hanji was encouraged to continue. "I think they're starting to understand!" she announced happily before turning back to the Ninjas.

The hyper squad leader pointed to herself, "Hanji." Then, she motioned to the boy with aquamarine eyes beside her, "Eren." Next, she moved toward Armin and Mikasa and introduced them, pronouncing their names carefully and emphasizing every syllable. Then, she grabbed Levi and said, "Shorty."

The gray-eyed Ninja was the first to lose control and started laughing hysterically, which caused his comrade with brown eyes to also fail to contain his chuckles any longer. And soon, all the masked people surrounding the Survey Corps had broken their silent, hostile demeanor, unable to keep their amusement hidden.

The Scouting Legion gazed at one another with perplexity as the Ninja with gray eyes pulled back his mask and hood to reveal a crown of wispy auburn hair and an impish sort of face. Though he was rather short, possibly just a centimeter taller than Levi, he appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties.

He managed to suppress his snickers and speak. "My apologies," he said, though he did not sound sorry at all, with an egotistical smirk-grin on his lips and slim eyebrows, which were just a shade darker than his hair, raised in a mocking manner. His voice was airy and also had an accent that made it a bit hard to understand him. "It was just too funny watching – Hanji, is it? – making a fool of herself.

"Oh, and by the way," the gray-eyed Ninja turned to the scientist before she could process that he had insulted her. He pointed to a dog that stood at his feet, the same dark-furred one that Hanji had attempted to befriend earlier. "His name is Ace, not Sonny or whatever it is you called him."

This was most definitely not what Erwin had expected the first meeting between the Survey Corps and the Aquila Ninjas to go. This auburn-haired young man had done nothing whatsoever at making a good impression and he obviously wasn't even trying. And the members of the Recon Corps were clearly not eager to be friends with him. Erwin decided that he had to be the one to take a step and save this encounter before it turned into an unfavorable one.

"I am Erwin Smith – " the Commander began, but he could go no further before the Ninja with gray eyes rudely interrupted him with a purposely unsubtle comment to his friend about Erwin's "caterpillar" eyebrows.

"Hey! If you're going to insult us, at least do it in your own language," one member of the Recon Corps demanded, offended that the little punk had the nerve to mock their Commander like that.

"As you wish," replied that same Ninja, and he promptly began speaking to his comrades in the language he had used before and ignored the soldiers completely.

"Enough, Tiberius."

The Ninjas quickly fell silent upon hearing this feminine, but commanding voice.

Two new Ninjas silently dropped down out of a nearby tree and made their way to the boy with auburn hair, whose name was Tiberius. They were both quite small in stature, but had a strong, purposeful stride as they approached the boy who had been poking fun of the Scouting Legion.

One of them had her hood back and mask pulled down, and was undoubtedly Tiberius's sister. They had the same light auburn colored hair, heart-shaped face, and delicate slope of the nose. But this girl had clear brown eyes instead of mischievous gray orbs and a barely noticeable splash of freckles across her face.

The second Ninja, the one who had addressed Tiberius, kept her hood and mask on and all Erwin could see of her was that she had green eyes. Not like Eren's bright, aquamarine ones, but more like a hard hazel hue. She also had the longest hair the Commander had ever seen, escaping from a slit in her cloak near the nape of her neck, the dark brown-black braid reaching her wrists as she walked.

"I told you to find out what was taking the dogs so long," the Ninja with the long braid said to Tiberius, disregarding the Survey Corps. She had the same accent as the boy she was speaking with, and there was something about the way she stated her words that gave her the air of authority. "Must I be the one to take care of everything?"

Tiberius stood up straighter, losing a bit of his cockiness, but he still had that carefree smile on his face. "Right, begging your pardon, Estelle. I got distracted."

The girl – Estelle – sighed resignedly as if this happened a lot, "You are often distracted these days, Tiberius. If you cannot focus on the orders I give you, I'll have to replace you with someone who can."

"They were going to slaughter our dogs," Tiberius explained, gesturing at Ace. "I called them back just in time." He held up a tiny silver dog whistle as proof. "I did not think it would be wise to allow these people to leave unquestioned. And they were talking about us, too."

Estelle tilted her head slightly at this, her dark, arched eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She then glanced at the Survey Corps for the first time since she arrived at the scene. She stared at them with distaste and the smallest hint of tiredness as if they were an extra stack of paperwork she had to deal with before going to sleep.

"You," she pointed to Erwin, understanding that he was the leader of the intruders in her forest, "have you any idea how precious these dogs are to my people? Should you have slain one of them, we would not be speaking with each other now. My people would have immediately labelled you as an enemy and slaughtered you as we do Titan. Now, answer me, what business do you wish to deal with me."

"I want to speak to your leader," Erwin replied truthfully. "Is he present?"

"You are looking at her," Estelle growled, offended that he did not catch on to her aura of superiority.

The height difference between Estelle and Erwin was almost comical as the Ninja stepped closer to the Commander to show that she was not afraid of him. "Problem?" she asked, noting his mild surprise.

"No, not at all," was all Erwin said, though he was liking this young woman less and less. He restoring his face to the calm and composed expression it was so often in and went on. "I am acquainted with one of your people; Claudius. Where is he?"

At that simple statement, all the easiness appeared to have been sucked out of Estelle, and she stiffened, her eyes shifting back and forth with calculation. The rest of the Ninjas seemed to be holding their breath, unsure of how their leader would respond but hoping that it would be peacefully.

"How do you know that name?" Estelle breathed softly, her green eyes watching Erwin closely.

"I met him here several years ago."

Estelle looked like she was fighting to hide her emotions. She swallowed and said in a quiet, somewhat strained voice, "Claudius is dead."

She left it at that and turned to Tiberius and his sister, her sense of command returning, "Tiberius, search Erwin Smith and his companions. Take their weapons and supplies. Luna, once they have been searched, I want you to escort them to our home. Valentine would want to speak with Smith."

Both nodded and Tiberius began to pass the order on to his comrades.

"I don't believe this," Estelle muttered angrily to Luna when he was gone. "First the Colossal Titan, then the snowstorm, then the famine last year, and now this. I must have the worst possible luck to be landed with all these problems. I don't think I can deal with this any longer."

"Things will even out, Estelle, I know it," Luna replied gently. "We just need to hold on a little longer."

"You always say that."

"And I mean it. You've done well holding your own so far, and I will try to assistance you as much as I can. You know, it helps to talk about it to someone. I'll always be willing to listen if you need me.

"I don't want to burden you with my problems.," Estelle replied shortly, gazing ahead and away from the friend beside her.

"I'm tougher than you think, Estelle," Luna said, looking at her friend with concern. "I can help you share the burden only if you let me. It will lessen your stress, I'm sure of it."

Estelle sighed and her shoulders drooped a little in defeat, something that she would never show in front of anyone besides Luna. "On top of this dilemma with the Survey Corps, I'll be turning twenty-three soon. People are going to start wondering why I haven't found a husband yet. I should have been married two years ago, and I don't know how much longer I can keep my condition a secret. People will start to talk, and they'll figure it out eventually. I don't know what to do."

"You always say that," Luna countered with a comforting smile. She patted the other girl's shoulder, "You always say that, but then you eventually get through it somehow. You are strong, Estelle. Others would have broken down from stress if they had to take your responsibility at such a young age. You've been clan leader for seven years, yes? You can survive for another."

Both girls looked over at Tiberius and dozens of other Ninjas swarming the Survey Corps, taking their swords and blades away.

"And besides," Luna went on. "The Wall-people coming here isn't necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps they want to help us."

While her friend smiled at the Survey Corps, Estelle had her eyes narrowed at them suspiciously. "Or they want _our_ help."

* * *

_Next time: Ooh~ it looks like Estelle is has a secret that she's ashamed of… I think I know what you're thinking, reader! You'll have to wait and see next chapter! Who is Valentine? What happened to Claudius and more importantly, who is he to begin with? Where do the Ninjas live? In a treehouse? Mud-houses? Caves? Stay tuned for the next update :D_

_Oh, yes, and can I ask for a review? Thanks for reading! _


	5. The Aquila Ninjas

_A/N: Many thanks to those who reviewed! This chapter was a bit of a strain to write, and I got a tiny case of writer's block toward the beginning, but I hope it turned out alright, I think. This chapter has about the same word count as all the others, but less happens, so I hope you don't mind waiting a little longer for the interesting parts._

_In case you haven't figured it out yet, the language that the Ninjas speak is Latin, and that is why all of their names are Latin. There will be a few Latin phrases in this chapter and future chapters, and I have put a number beside each phrase that will be translated at the end of the chapter. Or you can pull up a Latin to English translator and look it up yourself if that's easier for you. For your reading pleasure, I will not type all of the Ninjas' conversations in Latin, simply because I know you, the reader, would get tired of having to scroll down for the translation. Don't worry, there will only be a few sentences or words in Latin, nothing that would really affect your understanding of the story._

_Enjoy the chapter~_

* * *

Chapter Four: The Aquila Ninjas

Greatly outnumbered by the Ninjas, the Survey Corps members were stripped of their weapons, robbed of their supplies, and herded into an organized line. They were allowed to keep their 3D Maneuver Gear on simply because their captors could not figure out how to undo the complex system of leather straps.

The Ninjas were also unable to round up the horses for they had never dealt with such large animals before. In fact, they even seemed to be afraid of the unfamiliar creatures, resulting with the Recon Corps having to lead their own horses.

The formation that was formed consisted of the Scouting Legion in the center, a ring of Ninjas around them to prevent anyone from making a run for it, and a circle of three dozen dogs as the outermost barrier, trained to give some sort of reaction if they smell Titans nearby.

"Should any of you attempt to escape using your barbaric contraptions," Estelle had warned about the use 3D Maneuver Gear, gazing at the soldiers dangerously while twirling a small, star-shaped throwing weapon between her fingers as if deciding who to impale with it first, "I will show you just how accurately I can throw. Understood?"

Taking their silence as a yes, the clan leader had then signaled for Luna to get to the front of the line in order to guide the Survey Corps deeper into the forest while she, Estelle, walked around the captives, making sure that none of them were doing anything suspicious.

Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were near the front of the line where they could hear Luna and Tiberius speaking inaudibly with each other in their own language. The fog had not cleared entirely yet, but the siblings walked confidently, knowing exactly where they were going despite the being unable to see very far ahead.

As the Survey Corps was led through the forest, Eren couldn't help but feel very loud and clumsy compared to the Ninjas' eerily silent movements. Their footsteps were careful and light, the sound of grass beneath their feet blending in with the rustle of the tree branches high overhead. Their breathing was slow, hardly noticeable, and their cloaks did not make any flapping noises as the wind whipped them.

Upon closer inspection, the Titan-shifter had noticed that the black cloaks worn by the Ninjas weren't exactly like the ones worn by the Scouting Legion. They were similar in length, but instead of clasping at the throat, the Ninjas' cloaks clasped at both shoulders, giving the wearer free use of their arms. The material used to make the cloaks was something that Eren had not expected. Instead of black cloth, they were actually made of black _feathers_, somehow woven together to make an extremely light weight shawl.

Both Luna and Estelle had worn rather short shorts made of some kind of gray-brown animal fur with various pouches and small sacks attached around the waist. Though Eren had not been able to get a good look of what was sported underneath their cloaks, he could tell that it was a tight, dark colored blouse that revealed the female Ninjas' stomachs. Also, when Luna made any sudden movements that caused her cloak to flare up, the handles of two long knives could be seen strapped to her back.

"Excuse me?" Luna's soft voice snapped Eren out of his observations and he looked ahead to see the auburn-haired siblings gazing at him in two very different ways.

Luna's eyes were slightly curious and gentle as she watched him, while her brother was shooting daggers with his proud gray orbs, daring Eren to stare at his sister again.

"What are you looking at?" Tiberius snapped.

Luna narrowed her eyes into a frown at her brother's harshness, but did not tell him off. "Your name is Eren, correct?" she asked the green-eyed boy, turning to him with inquiring eyes. She did not appear nearly as offended as Tiberius about the Titan-shifter's staring.

Eren nodded.

"I'm Luna," the Ninja replied, bowing her head toward him courteously. Her elbow-length auburn hair was relatively straight with a few wavy sections and loosely tied with what looked like thin ropes at random intervals, giving her a naturally proper look, like some kind of princess from the wild. "It's nice to meet you, Eren."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Eren said just to be polite and held out his hand for a handshake. He saw Tiberius out of the corner of his eye, the male Ninja glaring at him as if he, Eren, had pushed down their grandmother or something.

Luna did not notice her brother's agitation, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she looked at Eren's outstretched hand. She glanced from his hand and then up to his face, "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You shake it with your hand," the Titan-shifter explained, ignoring the twitch of Tiberius's eyes when he mentioned his and Luna's hands coming into contact with each other. Eren thought that it was truly ridiculous how the gray-eyed Ninja's attitude could transform from being an arrogant prick to an irritably touchy brother.

Still, the female Ninja slowly shook her head at Eren, looking puzzled. "Why?"

Frankly, the brown-haired boy didn't really know. He thought about it for a few seconds, scratching the back of his head, but did not come up with a good reason and settled with, "It's just a polite gesture."

Luna tilted her head to the side slightly, her frown disappearing and clear brown orbs going soft as she considered this. "Well, I suppose if it's polite…" she hesitantly reached out her left hand toward his, but Tiberius quickly grabbed her arm and jerked it back.

Eren noticed something on Luna's wrist before it was yanked away. He couldn't tell what it was exactly, but it looked like a cross between a very badly done tattoo and a horrid burn mark.

"In our culture," Tiberius said, flashing Eren a smile of mock respect and snapping him out of his thoughts about Luna's tattoo-scar, "it is very rude to touch someone we just met. I would appreciate it if you don't teach my sister the barbaric ways of the Wall-people and respect our personal space, _Eren._" His words were laced with sarcasm and dripping with detestation toward the other boy.

"I can take care of myself, Tiberius," Luna replied with a sigh, prying her brother's fingers away from her wrist. She gave Eren an apologetic smile, but slowly retracted her hand back. "I'm sorry, but no matter how protective my brother is, he is right. I shouldn't have tried to come into physical contact with someone I've only just met. Perhaps when we know each other better, Eren, I will shake your hand."

Eren wanted to say that that would defeat the purpose of the handshake, but decided against it and just dropped the topic.

Tiberius didn't seem to be completely satisfied, but his shoulders became less stiff, the hard line that was his mouth relaxing ever so slightly, as he urged his sister to walk faster, leaving Eren behind.

Eren glared at the back of Tiberius's ginger head. _He's almost as much of an asshole as Jean, _he thought.

"Don't worry about it, Eren," reassured Mikasa, who had been paying attention to the short argument but had not interfered. "He's just protective of his sister. There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your siblings close."

"Don't tell me you're siding with that bastard," the Titan-shifter demanded, his emerald eyes flashing with mild rage. "I was just trying to be nice, Mikasa. How should I have known that Ninjas think handshakes are rude?"

"I'm not siding with anyone," the dark-haired girl said sternly. "But I can understand why he's so defensive over Luna. If your places had been swapped, I probably would have acted the same way. It's the nature of older siblings to protect their younger ones."

"Well, he didn't have to be such an asshole about it." Eren looked ahead at Luna and Tiberius, who had resumed their conversation from before.

Luna, being rushed ahead by her brother, turned her head slightly and looked at Eren over her shoulder, her eyes sensitive and sympathetic. She then faced Tiberius again and said to him in a stern and slightly agitated voice, "You can't keep pushing people away from me."

"Yes, I can," Tiberius replied bluntly, keeping his gaze fixed ahead.

"No, you can't," Luna argued, but still making sure that her voice was low enough so that no one else could hear their discussion. "Tiberius, asides from Estelle, I don't have any friends. And if Estelle wasn't the clan leader, I'm sure you would have scared her away from me long ago too. I want to meet people and become friends with them instead of hiding behind you all the time."

Tiberius's jaw clenched faintly before he gazed at his sister, "Luna, our parents are dead, and I am not going to lose you too. All we have is each other."

"No, we have others," Luna glanced up at her brother through eyes that were half-lidded with disappointment and sadness. "We are not alone; I have Estelle as well and you have Aloysius. And we both have Valentine. Our parents were not the only people who cared about us, Tiberius. Have you forgotten that family goes far beyond blood?"

The male Ninja remained silent as they continued to walk. His eyes were distant, indicating that he was thinking about something from the past. He knew that his sister was right, but he did not wish to admit it.

Luna let out a deep breath and went on, knowing that Tiberius wasn't going to say anything. "You don't have to put on that arrogant, sarcastic mask when you're in front of everyone. I know you only do that so people won't pity us for not having parents. Just drop it, please, all it does is make you seem ignorant and unkind, which I know you're not."

Tiberius opened his mouth as if to retort, but his words were cut off by the loud cry of one of the hounds on the outermost barrier of the formation.

All eyes snapped in the direction of the dog that had howled. The Scouting Legion, not understanding the sign at first, was confused and unaware until they noticed the looks of the Ninjas' faces. The masked people were in a state that was a mixture of anxiety, grim determination, and frustration.

It was the signal that a Titan was near.

Estelle, who had been striding around near the back of the formation, quietly muttered a string of angry curses in her native language before quickly beginning to maneuver her way through the mass of people between her and Luna. "Duco vestri ornamentum[1]!" she shouted to her comrades as she half-walked and half-sprinted to the head of the formation. For a woman of such small build, she had an unexpectedly loud and commanding voice.

Metal flashed as the Ninjas unsheathed their weapons. Most of them carried twin long knives of different styles while a few others had stranger weapons; bladed disks that were slightly larger than dinner plates and even whips. Then, they all started pairing up as if they had predetermined fighting partners.

Estelle had reached Luna, and they nodded to each other. Tiberius was joined by the male Ninja that he was with when he first encountered the Survey Corps.

"Should we give the prisoners back their weapons so they can fight?" asked the brown-eyed male, who was about a centimeter shorter than Tiberius and had a mop of dirty blonde hair.

Estelle shook her head but did not look at him as she replied, "No, there isn't enough time to distribute their blades. Tiberius, Aloysius," she addressed the two boys, "I want you and a few others to protect Erwin Smith and his Survey Corps. Do not allow the Titans near them."

"What if the prisoners try to slip away during the action?" asked Tiberius, gripping the handles of his knives until his knuckles turned white. "Do we have permission to kill them then?"

Estelle hesitated for a split-second. She knew that if she allowed the Ninjas to kill one of the Scouting Legion, no matter what the reason may be, she would be enemies to Erwin Smith and his people, which would be highly inconvenient if Titans were attacking too. But if one of them escaped the forest and lived to tell the tale to the rest of the Wall-people, Estelle's people would be doomed.

The green-eyed Ninja swallowed a knot of uncertainty in her throat and nodded to Tiberius and Aloysius. "If it comes down to that, yes, you have my permission to kill the prisoners, but _only_ if they attempt to run."

"Understood, Estelle," Tiberius and Aloysius both got down on one knee and bowed their heads to the clan leader as a show of respect before carrying out the order.

Estelle turned away from them and shouted to several other Ninjas, directing them to help Tiberius and Aloysius guard the Recon Corps. Then, she brought her attention to the prisoners themselves, her eyes narrowed at them in seriousness. "I have instructed my people to protect you as you have no weapons with which to fight with. Keep in mind that I am tempted to simply leave you out as a way to distract the Titans while I lead my clan to safety, but I will not. I am not _that_ unreasonable." Estelle glanced over the small group of soldiers in front of her, quickly studying their faces before going on, "Should any of my people be lost today, they died for your safety."

As she turned her back to them, Estelle heard a very timid voice breath, "...Thank you."

The dark-haired Ninja slowly faced the Scouting Legion again and identified that the person who had spoken was a small, blonde girl with pretty green-blue eyes. Estelle raised an eyebrow at her, caught off guard by her show of gratitude, something she did not expect from her prisoners, especially after how she had just spoken to them so bleakly. Then, her eyes hardened once more, and she regarded the blonde girl coldly, "You're not welcome."

Without another word, Estelle spun around on her heels, causing her long braid to swing around her with a strange sort of grace, and marched away with the eerie soundlessness that every Ninja possessed.

Eren watched her go with a glare on his face. The Titan-shifter was quickly starting to hate the green-eyed clan leader with a passion.

First, she took their weapons and was stubborn enough not to give them back even when a Titan could be coming towards them. Then, she offered to protect them, but doesn't accept gratitude when Krista showed it.

Still, Eren felt extremely exposed and helpless as he stood among his fellow soldiers from the Survey Corps, with no weapons except the grapple hooks used in their 3D Maneuver Gear and the thundering footsteps of a Titan getting closer and closer. It was like being backed into a corner. The Survey Corps could do nothing but watch and hope that the Ninjas would not fail in eliminating the threat.

Yet, Eren wondered how they planned to kill a large Titan without 3D Maneuver Gear or some other way of getting to the nape of the neck. The soldiers of the Scouting Legion traditionally shot their grapple hooks into the back of the Titan's neck and used the cable to pull themselves in for the kill.

But the Ninjas had nothing; just their knives, disks, and whips and those little throwing weapons that Estelle had been playing with when the Survey Corps were first disarmed. What could those simple arms do against a Titan of monstrous size?

All the Ninjas stood in a line, facing the direction from which the footsteps were coming from, weapons gripped tightly in their hands and lips set in a firm line of grim resolve, eyes flickering with hidden fear, and dignified tilts of the chin.

The dogs had all gathered around the one that had howled and were crouched low on the ground, their pointy, needle-like teeth all snarling as they too caught the scent of a Titan.

The silhouettes of two humanoid giants could be seen through the thinning fog, and upon first sight Eren would have guessed them both to be 17-meter classes, but he remembered how the natural veil had fooled the eyes of his comrades before. The Titan-shifter held his breath as did most of his friends as the threat came closer, slowly walking out of the fog.

A 7-meter class and a 10-meter one.

The 7-meter Titan had a head that was far too big for its ape-like body and a ridiculously wide mouth that wasn't quite as disgusting as the mouths of the larger of its kind. The 10-meter class had a body that was a lot more proportional, stringy brown hair framing its ugly face, and a corpse mouth that put the 7-meter to shame. Its red gums gleamed and with revulsion, Eren could see the rotten remains of the humans its eaten recently stuck between its long, skinny teeth.

As the Titans lumbered closer, Eren could hear his comrades beginning to make noises of fear and panic; soft squeaks and whimpers. Eren himself felt beads of sweat start to roll down the back of his neck as anxiety started rising. He stood tensely with hands at his sides and fists clenched to keep them from shaking.

Armin and Mikasa looked just as stiff, neither of them moving a muscle, not wanting to draw attention to themselves while they were so unarmed.

At last, when the two Titans were about six meters away from the first line of Ninjas which consisted of Estelle, Luna, and several others, the clan leader muttered to her comrades beside her, "Ostendo lemma haud misericordia, vobis vadum suscipio nullus [2]."

And on that inspiring note, the Ninjas sprinted at the two Titans; ten of them targeting the smaller of the two while another sixteen ran for the 10-meter class.

Estelle and Luna, who were aiming for the 10-meter class, had similar feelings as they charged the Titan. There was always a knot of fear and nervousness at the back of their throat when they see the giant that they must engage, and as they start running toward it, the knot gets bigger, filling with dread and uncertainty. But somehow, every time, they manage not to flee or break down in panic and to keep going, quickly getting closer to the danger.

As soon as the first move is made, whether it be merely a shallow cut to the Titan's ankles or a significant blow such as a wound to the Titan's eyes, the knot that almost chokes the Ninjas starts to shrink until the focus of defeating the giant is so firmly placed in their minds that there was no room left for fright.

There were no battle cries, no shouts or cheers of morale. The Ninjas were silent as they advanced on the giants, running with a swiftness that could only have been accomplished through years of training.

Though they were indeed very fast and quick in movement, they were not so fast that they were invisible as Quinn had told Eren and his friends. The Titan-shifter could still clearly see each Ninja as they approached the Titans.

The 10-meter class swept its massive, dirty hand out to the group of people sprinting toward it, causing the Ninjas to scatter in order to avoid getting caught by the Titan's horrid fingers. They quickly regrouped behind the giant before it could turn around.

Eren watched with anxious fascination as four of the black-cloaked people rushed at the Titan's legs from behind and took turns slicing at its ankles repeatedly, working so quickly that the Titan did not have time to regenerate as two other Ninjas reached into the pouches on their shorts and came out with handfuls of a white powder-like substance that they flung into the Titan's wounds.

Eren and his comrades covered their ears as the Titan let out a long, horrible scream of pure agony when the white powder was thrown over its open injury. It violently stumbled around for a few seconds as the flesh near the gashes started turning an ugly brown and did not steam as it was supposed to.

With the giant continuing to screech and moan, distracted from the excruciating pain that it was obviously feeling from the skin near its ankles that was no regenerating, all sixteen Ninjas jumped at the Titan from every direction.

Estelle and Luna both sank their long knives into one of the Titan's legs and climbed up toward its torso, along the way scattering the white powder from the pockets of their shorts into the wounds they inflicted as they used their blades to slowly scale the thigh of the humanoid giant.

Each time a Ninja was able to toss a little bit of the powder into a lesion, the Titan shrieked wildly as if it were a human being burning alive. The more of the stuff it got in its cuts, the more it ceased its thrashing and soon became a lifeless body before collapsing to the ground.

Meanwhile, the group of ten Ninjas had managed to put out the eyes of the 7-meter class, chucking the miraculous white substance into their irises, and finishing the Titan off the same way 10-meter class had been dealt with.

After the second Titan fell, all of the Ninjas hastily whipped their heads around with apprehension, meeting the eyes of others and counting each other to make sure that no one was hurt. With an exhale of relief, Estelle noted that everyone was present and looked uninjured, simply breathing heavily from the adrenaline of battle and eyes shining with liberation that they had survived another fight.

The clan leader relaxed ever so slightly, her shoulders drooping a bit as she allowed herself to catch her breath and wipe the sweat and Titan blood from her forehead. She swallowed audibly before lifting her chin up and regaining her composure as she shoved her messy bangs, wet from perspiration, out of her eyes. Then, she swiftly wiped her blades on the grass at her feet to get rid of most of the blood and returned them to the sheaths strapped to her thighs.

Not wanting the Survey Corps to know that she was slightly fatigued both physically and mentally from the fight, Estelle forced herself to stand straighter and walked back to the prisoners with dignity.

The Recon Corps were already muttering amongst themselves seriously, discussing what the white substance that had so easily defeated the Titans was. Some kind of rare, unknown mineral?

Estelle peeked into the largest of the pouches hanging from her shorts and cursed as she saw that there wasn't much of the stuff left. She noticed Luna also looking at her own stock with a troubled expression.

"How much do you have left?" the green-eyed girl asked her friend.

Luna shook her head, "Not much, about two handfuls; not enough for another Titan. We'd better get to the Patria quickly before more show up."

Estelle's cheeks puffed ever so slightly with agitation as she turned back to the Survey Corps and shouted at them, "What are you all still doing here? Move it before another Titan finds us."

The Ninjas travelled faster this time, herding their prisoners deeper into the forest hastily, though still maintaining their silent maneuvers. Estelle and Luna had made their way to the front of the party and were muttering to each other, their voices kept low so that even other Ninjas couldn't hear them.

"We could have avoided that battle," Estelle pointed out with fury that was more directed towards herself than anyone else.

"If we avoided it," Luna replied calmly, not effected by the aura of anger that surrounded her friend, "our prisoners would have been killed. Would you have been able to live with that?"

"I knew that we were running low on salt," the clan leader growled, ignoring Luna's question. She gripped her head in frustration, causing several strands of dark hair to escape from her long braid messily. "At this rate, we won't have enough to last until next harvesting season. What will we do then? I'm only causing more problems for myself."

The auburn-haired girl looked sideways at Estelle with empathy, "You know Valentine, I'm sure she'll have some extra salt stashed somewhere that we can use until next spring. And besides, I doubt you'd have felt any better about saving the salt and leaving Erwin Smith's people at the hands of the Titans than you feel now about saving them at the cost a several handfuls of something we restock on every year."

Estelle did not say anything for a long time, her eyes cast down with tiredness as she walked.

Though Estelle often appeared to be a strong, powerful leader, Luna knew that that was not how her friend was. Luna was the only one who could look into Estelle's hazel irises and truly see the stress and exhaustion within. There was far too much age in those eyes for someone of only the age of twenty-two.

Luna missed when she and Estelle were closer friends. She missed when the dark-haired girl smiled and laughed with her. She missed the time when they could talk to each other about anything and not just clan politics which was pretty much the only thing Estelle spoke of these days; ranting to Luna about the difficult decisions she had to make and how stressful all of her duties were.

And Luna listened. She listened to everything Estelle had to say, no matter how much it didn't concern her, Luna. Luna paid attention and cared about the clan leader's problems because she knew that Estelle had no one else to confide to. And most of all, Luna tried to help her because she wanted to see her cheerful and bright again like when they were both children.

All her life, Luna had seen people change and drift away; her brother, her childhood best friend, but she, Luna, stayed the same, constant as the Polaris Star while all other stars shifted around it.

The auburn-haired Ninjas sadly gazed at her left wrist to see the burn mark that resembled a waning crescent moon with a bright star set within the curve. Estelle had the same burn on her right wrist, and it was a symbol of their friendship that they received when Estelle was thirteen and Luna was ten.

It was supposed to mean that they were almost closer than sisters, which they were when they obtained the mark, almost ten years ago. It wasn't that Luna didn't want to be friends with Estelle anymore. No, that was last thing she wanted. She only wished for Estelle to go back to being the joyful, optimistic person she was before she became clan leader.

* * *

_A/N: Once again, I don't know what the matter with my planning is, but this was supposed to be way shorter. I guess we'll have to meet Valentine and find out where the Ninjas live next chapter. So sorry! I apologize if this story is moving a bit slow, but I promise that things will pick up soon! Nonetheless, I'm feeling a little iffy about this chapter, so I would love for you to give me your opinion and pointers in the review section. Thanks!_

_Next time: I know, my planning is totally disorganized, but I promise, we will see Valentine and the Ninja's homeland next chapter. Also, there will be some more interactions between the Ninjas and the Survey Corps, which should be very interesting. See you next time :)_

_[1]: "Draw your weapons"_

_[2]: "Show them no pity, for you shall receive none"_


	6. The Patria

Chapter Five: The Patria

As he went deeper and deeper into the Great Forest, Eren lost his sense of direction and time. To the Titan-shifter, everything looked the same; the trees, the bushes, and even the rocks he would stumble over once in a while. Because the thick canopy of leaves and branches overhead blocked out much of his view of the sky, even the sun could not help him in determining how long the Survey Corps and the Ninjas had been walking.

At last, Estelle, Luna, and Tiberius led the company to an abrupt stop at what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. There was no change in environment and no sign that it was any place unusual.

Estelle turned to scan the Scouting Legion members that stood behind her and told them unceremoniously, "You are standing on our sacred land, but do not expect me or my people to give you a warm welcome."

Like Eren, many members of the Recon Corps glanced at their surroundings in confusion and found nothing special about the ground they were standing on.

Estelle, noticing their uncertainty, rolled her hard green eyes with irritation and continued, "Look up, you morons."

Eren raised his eyes, which were such a different shade of green than the clan leader's, upward towards the sky.

At first, he did not see anything. But upon closer inspection, he realized that what he had thought were vines were actually thin rope bridges connecting the thickest branches together and small, cleverly disguised treehouses high up at the uppermost level of the woodland. If someone had simply taken a quick glance overhead, they never would have been able to see the cabins that were so cunningly placed in the shadows created by the cover of leaves and limbs that sheltered them.

Eren's eyes widened slightly as he saw that the system of treehouses continued deeper into the gloom of the Great Forest where he could no longer see despite the fog having cleared almost entirely. The Titan-shifter watched his friends from the corner of his eyes and saw that Armin was opening showing his amazement through a fascinated twinkle in his bright blue eyes.

Even Mikasa, who was hardly swayed by anything, had not expected such a complicated structure of wood, ropes, and branches that made up the Ninjas' homeland.

As he lowered his eyes back to Estelle, Luna, and Tiberius, Eren found that the clan leader had started scrambling up the massive trunk of a nearby tree with an ease that could only have been developed through years of living in the forest.

Luna and Tiberius both turned to look at Eren before Tiberius shot the green-eyed boy a sneer and began to follow Estelle up the tree. But Luna remained, gave Eren an encouraging smile, and gestured at the tree that her brother and friend had just scaled.

When Eren only looked at her, not understanding her signals, the auburn-haired girl said, "Go on, Eren, and follow Estelle and my brother. It is dangerous to stay down here."

Eren nodded and aimed his grapple hooks at one of the lowest branches that protruded from the tree.

"Hold on," Luna suddenly placed herself in between the tree and Eren as she realized that the boy was going to use his 3D Maneuver Gear. "What are you doing?"

Eren looked at her, misunderstanding clouding his face. "I was just going to use the 3D Maneuver Gear. How else am I supposed to climb the tree?"

"So that is what they are called," Luna murmured as she regarded the series of straps, silver contraptions, and grappling hooks that the boy wore all around his body with an odd mixture of curiosity and hostility. "3D Maneuver Gear; I agree with Estelle that it is a savage invention," she concluded.

Eren's eyebrows furrowed. There seemed to be no end to the foreign and sometimes utterly ridiculous opinions and comments of the Aquila Ninja Clan. Honestly, Eren was getting a bit agitated himself. "This 'savage invention' saved my life countless times. If it hadn't been invented, people in the Walls never would have learned to fight Titans."

Something in Luna's translucent brown eyes flickered. Interest, anger, bewilderment, Eren couldn't quite decipher. But he could tell that he had grabbed the Ninja's attention as she turned to fully face him.

"That may be so," Luna began slowly, though there was no malice in her voice as she stared carefully into Eren's irises as if searching for something. She was at least five inches shorter than him, but instead of tilting her head up to look at him, she only moved her eyes. "But such equipment will not be used here, not on these trees."

Before Eren could ask her what was so important about mere trees, Luna snapped her gaze away from him to gaze at said objects all around them. She looked at them in a loving manner as if they weren't trees at all, but close friends. The way she smiled ever so slightly at them, like she knew each and every one of them personally, made Eren wonder if she gave each tree a name and talked to them about her problems.

"Just as your 3D Maneuver Gear kept you alive while fighting Titans," she said, not looking at Eren and instead leaning against a trunk, resting her cheek on the rough bark, "these trees provided shelter for my people when we had nothing, when we were refused entry into your Walls."

The way she stated that last part about the Walls made a chill run down Eren's spine. It wasn't exactly anger or resentment. In fact, it was rather calm, which made it all the more bone-chilling, and Eren even detected a hint of forlorn sadness.

Luna then stepped away from tree she was leaning on and shifted her eyes back to the Titan-shifter's. "I won't allow you to do harm to our trees with those devices," she tilted her chin at the grapple hooks.

Then, she raised her voice so that all of the Survey Corps could hear her, "If you can climb without the use of your 3D Maneuver Gear, you may join the clan leader up in the safety of the trees. If you cannot," Luna paused, hesitating as she decided on what to tell them.

She wanted to make sure that everyone was safe, even the Scouting Legion, but she knew that it was not her place to make such decisions.

"We'll just leave you down here for the Titans," Estelle, who had gotten impatient, finished as she gracefully climbed down from the tree and landed beside Luna. "So all of you'd better try if you want to live."

And with that, she prepared to leap up into the branches again, but Luna caught her arm and pulled her back down. "We can't just leave them here," the auburn-haired Ninja protested quietly, so that only Estelle could hear her.

Estelle frowned at Luna's fingers encircling her wrist and quickly shook them away, "It's not my problem that they've grown so reliant on their barbarous gadgets. Where do you suggest I put Erwin Smith and his cohorts where we can keep an eye on them if they can't even climb a mere 20 meters to get to the lowest branches?"

"We can show them to the Caves," Luna proposed somewhat hesitantly. She knew how much Estelle valued the colossal caverns that expanded underground right under their feet. They were a good place to live when the weather gets extremely cold or extremely hot and also an area where Titans have trouble reaching.

The clan leader froze and slowly spun on her heels to look at Luna as if she was daft. When the other girl did not take back her suggestion, Estelle's eyes quickly narrowed as she realized that Luna was serious. "No, and you know why. I would never allow these Wall-scums to enter the Caves," she replied bluntly.

"Please, Estelle," Luna whispered, clasping her hands together in desperation. "You and I both know that over half of these people aren't going to be able to make it up."

Both female Ninjas looked up from their debate to watch a short boy with a shaved head and bright hazel eyes attempting to scramble up the trunk of a tree, grunting, panting, and visibly sweltering as he hugged the bark. He had only made it about two feet off the ground.

The corner of Estelle's eye twitched as a drop of sweat slid down her temple at the boy's obvious fail. But she had to give him some credit for trying so hard.

"Oi, brat," another short man with ebony hair in the style of an undercut and intimidating gray-blue eyes walked past the one with hazel orbs, regarding him with disinterest.

The younger and shorter of the two, who was still hugging the tree trunk, turned his head slightly to face the one who had addressed him as 'brat'. "G-good day, Captain," he replied with a notable amount of strain in his voice; whether from being under the sharp gaze of the man or the exhaustion of struggling to climb the tree, Estelle did not know.

"You know you're never going to get up there," the older man deadpanned before calmly walking away, leaving the poor cadet, who had finally given up and was now lying on the ground, in his humiliation.

"It's all right, Connie," a taller girl, who had brown hair and eyes that were just a shade darker than Connie's, patted the boy on the shoulder.

Estelle raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the cadet known as Connie, though she would never admit that she was indeed mildly fascinated by his effort and determination to prove his worth. And, watching him sitting there on the forest floor with scratched up, bleeding hands and a face covered with sweat, the clan leader almost felt pity for him. Almost.

Luna knew that Estelle, though distrustful and hard for strangers to like, was not entirely heartless and could not stand people hurting themselves.

When Connie attempted to try again, wrapping his arms around the tree trunk once more, Estelle snapped. Glowering at no one in particular, she shouted at the Survey Corps, "Hey! I've changed my mind. You will not become Titan food if you cannot climb the trees."

Out of the corner of her eye, Estelle saw Connie abruptly let go of the tree he was struggling with and fall on his back, drawing in deep breaths.

"All of you weaklings who can't climb," the clan leader went on, "Luna will lead you underground. There is a series of caves beneath your feet that you may stay in. I hope you're grateful."

And with that, she handed responsibility to the auburn-haired Ninja and purposefully plowed her way through the Survey Corps and other Ninjas who were easily scaling the trees and cleverly swinging from one branch to another to get to the treehouses high above. The members of the Scouting Regiment were being herded together and Luna began leading them further into the forest to the entrance of the Caves.

At last, Estelle found the man she was searching for; Erwin Smith. He, like the rest of his comrades, was following the party that was going underground, accompanied by the short Captain who had degraded Connie and a bright, hyper-looking woman with two metal rings over her eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" Estelle asked, blocking the blonde man and his subordinates' way. "Surely the Commander of the Wall-people is able to climb several meters with no trouble."

Erwin could hear the challenge and slight mockery in her voice. He was aware that the clan leader did not have any respect for him and would probably never take him seriously if he refused to at least try climbing to the treehouses without 3D Maneuver Gear. The Commander's jaw clenched, but he kept his face impassive as he said, "Of course."

Then, Estelle shifted her gaze to Levi and Hanji, looking them up and down as if judging if they were worthy of her attention. "And you are?"

Hanji, being the optimistic and outgoing person, jumped at the opportunity to introduce herself. She held her hand out to the clan leader, "I'm Squad Leader Hanji Zoë. I don't think we've formally met yet; it's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure," Estelle said, though it was clear that she didn't mean it. There was an awkward silence while she stared at Hanji's outstretched hand as the scientist continued to wait patiently for the handshake. "I'm not touching you if that's what you want."

"Aw, come on! Please?" Hanji was not put down at all by Estelle's unenthusiastic behavior. "It's just a little handshake, Estelle – I can call you that, right?"

"What else?" the clan leader growled. She was quickly becoming annoyed with the taller woman's antics, not quite believing that she was acting this way purely out of kindness.

"Well, I don't know, maybe you prefer to be called by your last name or –"

"I don't have a last name."

"You don't?" Hanji appeared honestly intrigued by this. "Then how do you know the difference if someone else has the name Estelle too?"

Estelle could feel a vein throbbing in her right temple at this point. "No one else has my name," she answered as calmly as she could.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"Are you telling me that you know the name of every Ninja – "

"Yes."

" – that lives in these woods?"

"Yes. Of course, I know the names of all of my people."

"How many of you are there in all?"

Estelle gritted her teeth, but thought for a moment and said, "I'd reckon around three hundred."

"How can you possibly know the names of all –"

"Enough!" Estelle shouted as she could no longer contain her exasperation with Hanji's chatterbox personality. "This is nonsense! If I shake your hand, will you stop talking?"

Hanji perked up and nodded eagerly, stretching her hand out to the dark haired Ninja again.

Estelle sighed with a mixture of relief and reluctant defeat as she grabbed the scientist's hand and gave it the quickest shake possible before releasing it hastily.

However, Hanji noticed two large burn marks on the skin of her wrist as they exchanged handshakes and was immediately interested, "Hey, what's that scar you have there on your –"

"It's none of your business," Estelle snapped, her hand quickly retreating into her cloak and out of the crazed woman's sight. "Now please stop talking."

"Ooh, touchy," Hanji said with a teasing smile. "You and Shorty would probably get along. You're very much alike."

At this, Estelle frowned with genuine confusion crossing her face, "Who is Shorty?"

Hanji threw an arm around Levi's shoulders, ignoring the Corporal's piercing glare, and said with a huge grin, "That's this big bright ball of sunshine right here."

The clan leader, with her eyebrows still furrowed, turned her puzzled gaze to Levi, "Your name is Shorty? Strange name."

"Get off of me, Shitty Glasses," Levi stated in monotone before shoving the mad scientist away from him. Though his voice was emotionless, a flicker of annoyance flashed in his dark eyes that the clan leader managed to catch. He then regarded Estelle with a cold stare, "Your brain must be the size of a walnut if you seriously thought that was my name."

Estelle's eyebrows rose ever so slightly at his comment, but they quickly narrowed again with resentment toward the Corporal. It was clear that she was not used to being insulted or spoken to in such a disrespectful tone. "Can you really blame me?" she shot back, gesturing at his stature and feeling satisfied when she noticed a glimmer of anger in his impassive eyes before it was gone within a second. Estelle noticed that he must one of those people who hid their emotions all the time. "For a man from the Walls, you are relatively short."

"Has your puny brain not realized that you are shorter than me?" Levi said, pointing out the two-inch height difference between them.

"You speak of being short as if it is a curse," Estelle argued, glaring at the ebony-haired man. "Among my people, it is a blessing to be of small stature, far harder for a Titan to find and catch you. If you think I was trying to offend you by pointing out your height, you are mistaken. If anything, it should have been taken as a compliment."

"Tch, whatever." Crossing his arms, Levi did not say any more, but Estelle continued to look at him expectantly. "What else do you want, brat?"

Estelle blinked at the use of the word "brat" at first before her jaw visibly set stiffly as she processed it as an insult. She, being clan leader, had never in her life been referred to as someone of lower ranking and was greatly offended. She clenched her fists underneath her cloak and replied, "First, I doubt there's a large age difference between us, so you cannot call me a brat."

"I can do whatever the hell I want."

"Second," the clan leader went on, ignoring what the sharp-eyed man had said, "if your name isn't Shorty, then what is it?"

"My name is none of your concern," Levi answered nonchalantly.

"Fine. Until I know your name, I shall assume that it's Shorty," Estelle concluded, managing to keep her face and voice cool, since the man she was speaking with seemed to be completely unaffected by the argument.

Levi saw out of the corner of his eye that Hanji was having a mini celebration at succeeding to find someone, besides herself, who had the courage to say the ridiculous nickname to his face. He made another "tch" sound and moved his gaze to Erwin, who had the nerve to smile with amusement.

Estelle noticed the Commander's entertained expression too and instantly shot him a dirty look, "What is funny?"

Erwin did not attempt to hide his small smile. Though he saw that the clan leader was trying to hide her rage, she was not anywhere near as good at it as Levi, and the Commander could tell that she was furious. He was honestly a bit pleased that, after all the disrespect Estelle had shown the Survey Corps, at least Levi was able to give her a taste of her own medicine. The Commander didn't usually think that revenge was the right way to go, but he had to admit that the look on Estelle's face when she was called a brat was somewhat satisfying.

Estelle, realizing that Erwin wasn't going to answer her, tore her gaze away from him and gave glares of disgust at his subordinates which Levi returned with a dull stare while Hanji's grin never ceased. This annoyed Estelle even more, but she forced herself to be civil. Plastering a fake sweet smile onto her face, she gestured to the nearest tree trunk and said with mock politeness, "After you."

* * *

Eren was glad that Tiberius was gone.

Without her brother, Luna was much more talkative and spoke to Eren, Armin, and Mikasa as she led the Recon Corps to a part of the forest not far from the treehouses where many large boulders were piled against the base of a small hill.

"This is the entrance to the Caves," Luna explained as she crouched down to inspect a large crack in between two particularly massive stones. "The Caves and the treehouses, that is what we call Patria; in your language, it is translated to 'homeland' or 'fatherland'."

Eren could tell that Armin was simply fascinated by what Luna knew about the outside world and life before the Titans appeared. "What language was Estelle speaking when you fought those two Titans?" the small blonde boy asked, his face lit up with curiosity as he waited to take in every word of the auburn-haired Ninja's answer.

Luna, though she was shorter than Armin, looked up from the crack in the ground and smiled at him like an older sister or mother might smile at a little brother or favorite son. "We do not have a name for it, but in the old days it was known as Latin, a language that was almost dead. The founders of the Clan were one of the few who still spoke the language, and the Clan adopted it in honor of them."

Then, without warning, she turned back to the gap in between the boulders and swiftly disappeared into it.

At first, Eren though she had fallen in by accident. He, Armin, and Mikasa gathered around the large fissure in the ground, trying to see into the gloom below. "You okay?" Eren shouted down to Luna. His voice did not echo, which showed that there wasn't a long drop.

"Fine," Luna's voice called up. "Don't worry; it's only a little shorter than a 5-meter fall. Come on, follow me."

Eren met Armin and Mikasa's eyes with uncertainty. They had only just met Luna, and she seemed like a nice person, but none of them could quite trust the Ninjas yet. There could be something dangerous down there like a pool of acid or hostile animals.

For a moment, the thought crossed all of their minds to run away and escape while their only escort, Luna, was stuck at the bottom of the fissure. But something told them that Estelle, the clan leader, would not be so stupid as to truly leave Luna alone with the majority of the Survey Corps.

Though Eren could not see them, he was sure that in the tree branches overhead, dozens of Ninjas were probably hiding and watching them to make sure that no one attempted to murder Luna and run.

And Luna herself knew it too, that she was not alone. That's why she was so comfortable with simply leaving her prisoners at the surface on their own. Just as the Survey Corps hesitated to follow the auburn-haired girl due to distrust, the Ninjas did not trust the Survey Corps enough to believe that they'd behave when left alone with a single escort.

Not to mention, Eren had not seen the Commander Erwin among the group of Recon Corps members who had chosen to go the Caves. He had also failed to find Corporal Levi or Squad Leader Hanji. The Titan-shifter assumed that they were probably going to give the trees a try. It would be mutiny to abandon the three highest ranking officers of the expedition at the mercy of the Ninjas while they, the mere foot-soldiers, fled.

However, though the gap of distrust between the two races of people was incredibly large, the Ninja Clan clearly trusted its members entirely; Luna had seemed completely at ease about being the only one to lead the Scouting Legion to the Caves, for she trusted that other Ninjas were watching over her and would intervene if she was in danger.

"I'll go first," Mikasa volunteered at last, knowing that there was no hope of running away. Her voice held a sort of finality that dared anyone to object. "You two can wait here until I tell you it's safe."

Eren and Armin did not protest. The brunette boy was aware that Mikasa would be the best choice since, asides from Eren's Titan form, she was the best at fighting. And Eren would not be able to Titan-shift once he fell through the crack, because the space would most likely be too small.

Mikasa gave Eren and Armin a nod before sliding into the gap just as Luna had done.

There was a soft noise of boots hitting dirt which signaled that the highest ranking trainee of the 104th Training Corps had landed on her feet.

Eren and Armin waited to hear sounds of struggle, but none came. After a moment, Mikasa's voice floated up to them, "Come down here, Eren, Armin. Everything's fine."

The two boys exchanged a glance before Eren shrugged and followed after Mikasa, then Armin and the other members of the 104th Training Corps and the rest of the Survey Corps. They were smart to wait a few seconds after each person entered the gloom so that no one was crushed by the person after them.

The area where they landed was larger that Eren had imagined. It was an underground chamber that was big enough to hold all of the members of the expedition perfectly. It was an irregular shape with small stalactites hanging from the ceiling and a rocky floor. A slim spotlight of sunlight streamed in from above through the crack that they had entered from.

"Um, how do we get back out?" Sasha asked out loud as she looked up at the sunlight.

"There's a natural staircase of rocks over there," Mikasa explained, pointing at a side of the hollow that had many chunks of boulders in it that would be very easy to use for climbing out of the hole.

"Come this way," Luna ordered, once everyone had entered the chamber. She led them through a tunnel that branched off of the cavity and gently sloped downwards.

It got darker and darker as they continued descending and just as Eren was sure that he had lost sight of Luna walking about a meter in front of him, he noticed that a faint pale green shimmer was starting to light up the gloomy passageway.

At last, the tunnel opened to a colossal hall that had a roof almost tall enough for Eren's Titan form to stand in. The stalactites and stalagmites were bigger here and met in some places to create massive natural columns. However, it was rather dark for there was no hole in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to enter. The only light came from small pools of some sort of liquid that glowed a pale jade color, giving light to the cavern that would otherwise had been pitch black.

"It is safe in here," Luna turned to face the Survey Corps members who were gazing around the room with wide eyes. "These caves are very large and go deeper and farther than you can hardly imagine. You may move about, but I advise that you stay in this room as it is easy to get lost in the tunnels. Don't touch that, Eren."

Eren had bent down by one of the pools of glowing liquid and was reaching out to touch it, curious as to what substance it was. He froze when he heard Luna tell him to back away from the pool. "Why?"

Luna shook her head, "We do not know what it is or how it glows. It would be best not to come into direst contact with it, since it might be acidic. Or, maybe touching it would disturb the process that allows it to give light. Please leave it alone, Eren."

Eren, though still inquisitive, understood Luna's logic and backed away from the pool.

"I may have been able to convince my clan leader to allow you shelter here," Luna went on, addressing all of the Recon Corps. "But it is up to her to decide when you should depart. But for now, sit and rest."

* * *

"I will admit that I am impressed," Estelle stated as she casually paced the length of the branch she was standing on, looking over the three Survey Corps officers who had surprisingly managed to scale the tree and meet her near one of the lowest of the treehouses.

The clan leader had to admit that, though Shorty was definitely her least favorite of the trio, he was quite smart. Being the first to figure out that his equipment was weighing him down, the short Corporal had taken off a great deal of the 3D Maneuver Gear and was the first to succeed in reaching the spot where Estelle was waiting for them.

Next came Erwin, whom Estelle had risen an eyebrow at for not being the first as she had predicted from the Commander of the Wall-people. Though, for a man of his age, he faired unexpectedly well. Not to mention he also copied Shorty's strategy of leaving the 3D Maneuver Gear behind, which helped a great deal.

Lastly was Hanji Zoë whom the clan leader had seriously doubted would be able to climb over 5-meters. But the hyper woman unquestionably had spirit and had finally accomplished the task after various failed attempts.

Estelle gave them a few moments to rest from the tiring endeavor before telling them to get up again, "Follow me, Hanji Zoë, Erwin Smith, and Shorty. Now that you three have proven yourself worthy, at least for Wall-people, you have the right to speak with Valentine. Come this way."

"Why can't Valentine come to us?" Hanji whined, her breathing still heavy from the exhaustion. "We've done enough."

"You will see why," Estelle replied and turned on her heels towards the nearest rope bridge without making sure that they were following her.

Levi got to his feet and looked at Erwin, "I can't believe you're letting a fucking little girl play with you like this. It's pathetic. Do you fancy her or something?"

Erwin also got up and dusted himself off, gazing calculatingly at Estelle's figure that was already halfway across the bridge. "No, in fact I don't think I've ever disliked someone this quickly in my entire life."

Both men watched the clan leader with calm faces that hid their resentment and reluctance to obey the young woman.

"But," Erwin said, "the objective of this expedition is to gain their friendship and trust. I'm sure the clan leader had bitter feelings toward us long before we even met, but there is still room to persuade her to help us. Try to be polite, Levi. Otherwise, sneaking out of the Walls right from under the king and Darius Zackly's noses would all be for nothing."

"Tch…" Levi knew that the Commander was right, but there was something horridly agitating about being ordered to be polite to a girl who had been insulting them nonstop.

"Hey!" Estelle shouted at them from a larger treehouse that she had reached from the rope bridge. "Get over here now."

Erwin sighed, "Come on, Hanji." Erwin helped the squad leader to her feet and the three of them crossed the bridge cautiously before stopping in front of the clan leader at the doorway of the treehouse.

It wasn't until they stepped into the cabin that they noticed that they were not alone with Estelle.

Standing behind the green-eyed Ninja was an old woman who looked to be in her late seventies. If she had been standing up straight, she would have been a couple of inches taller than Estelle. Her slightly tanned skin was wrinkled with age and luminous blue eyes sunken deep into her skull. It was clear that she was once very beautiful as a young woman, but the time had faded her and she was now a bit hunched over, long, whiting hair falling in her face.

Estelle took the old lady's hand and helped her walk a bit closer to the visitors, "Allow me to introduce you," she said to the Scouting Legion officers, "to the clan's head healer, master herbalist, keeper of the archives, and my grandmother, Valentine."

* * *

_A/N: Hmm… not much happened in this chapter, and yet it's so long! I guess we got a lot of dialogue and some deeper character introductions, but all the main information about the Aquila Ninjas will be told next chapter; their history, some traditions, and character backstory, since Luna will be answering lots of questions for our friends from the 104__th__ Training Corps :) _

_Dear Sina, what is the matter with my planning? This was supposed to be 2,000 words shorter! Oh well… hope you still enjoyed it and will keep reading. Care to review? Thanks!_


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